Thermal Lab Lead - High-Performance Cooling & Test Automation

Etched.ai; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

$500 per month credit for waiving med/

Housing subsidy $2,500 per month

Relocation support

Wellness benefits

Daily lunch and dinner in office

Unlimited compute budget

Job summary

Etched.ai in San Jose seeks a Thermal Lab Lead to build and maintain a world-class thermal lab, testing high-performance data center thermal assemblies. You will own test setups, work with engineers, and drive data-driven validation to meet aggressive timelines.

You will lead technicians, develop automation tools, coordinate across teams, and plan future lab capabilities including CDUs and liquid-cooled racks in a hands-on role that demands precision and organization.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience testing single-phase liquid-cooled assemblies, including cold plates, manifolds, quick disconnects, and CDUs.
• Experience selecting, installing, and troubleshooting instrumentation such as flowmeters, thermocouples, and pressure transducers, as well as operating chillers and liquid-cooling test equipment.
• Demonstrated ability to independently build and troubleshoot test setups, assess measurement quality, and document reliable results.
• Working knowledge of heat transfer and fluid flow sufficient to interpret test results and troubleshoot thermal-fluid systems.
• Experience developing, debugging, and validating test automation and data-analysis workflows.
• Experience coordinating competing testing priorities and providing technical direction to technicians.
• Excellent organizational and documentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead day‑to‑day thermal lab operations, including test benches, equipment, and consumables inventory.
• Develop test plans and procedures in partnership with thermal engineering.
• Own test setup, instrumentation, execution, data‑quality review, and reporting against agreed objectives and acceptance criteria.
• Develop, maintain, and validate automation tools for test execution, data acquisition, and data reduction and analysis.
• Coordinate testing requests across multiple teams, establish priorities with stakeholders, and forecast equipment, capacity, and staffing bottlenecks.
• Lead thermal technicians, assign testing activities, provide technical guidance, and review completed work.
• Maintain lab procedures and coordinate equipment maintenance, calibration, and safe operating practices with lab operations.
• Partner with lab operations to plan future lab capabilities, equipment, and infrastructure.
• Assist with the installation, integration, and commissioning of primary and secondary cooling loops in partnership with facilities, lab operations, equipment vendors, and qualified contractors.
• Assemble thermal test vehicles, including wiring and soldering of PCBs and heaters.
• Commission CDUs and liquid‑cooled racks to support lab testing.
• Assist in the design and buildout of Etched thermal labs in Taiwan.

Skills

Liquid cooling testing

Instrumentation troubleshooting

Test setup & debug

Thermal-fluid knowledge

Test automation

Testing coordination

Documentation

Education

Engineering degree or equivalent

Tools

Flowmeters

Thermocouples

Pressure transducers

Chillers

Liquid cooling equipment

Job description

Etched.ai in San Jose seeks a Thermal Lab Lead to build and maintain a world-class thermal lab, testing high-performance data center thermal assemblies. You will own test setups, work with engineers, and drive data-driven validation to meet aggressive timelines.

You will lead technicians, develop automation tools, coordinate across teams, and plan future lab capabilities including CDUs and liquid-cooled racks in a hands-on role that demands precision and organization.