Thermal & Structural Modeling Engineer for Space Telescopes

Cosmic Frontier Labs; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Reproductive healthcare

HSA/FSA

Life and disability insurance

One Medical

401(k)

Education benefits

Cell phone and Wi‑Fi reimbursement

Work-from-home stipend

Commuter benefits

Wellness programs

Job summary

Cosmic Frontier Labs in San Francisco is seeking a thermal and structural modeling engineer to predict how our space telescope hardware behaves under launch loads and the extremes of orbit, turning analysis into confident design decisions.

You will build and validate coupled thermo-structural models, correlate them with test data, and drive design decisions in a fast-paced startup environment with high ownership.

Qualifications

• Strong education in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering with 3+ years of experience in structural, thermal, or coupled thermo-structural analysis for aerospace or precision hardware.
• Experience building and running FEA models for launch loads and thermal environments using tools such as ANSYS, Nastran, or Abaqus.
• Deep understanding of thermoelastic stability, deformation, structural margins, and environmental loads including vibration and thermal vacuum.

Responsibilities

• Build coupled thermal and structural models (thermoelastic stability matters as much as strength) and use them to drive design decisions.
• Analyze deformation, stability, and margin under launch and on-orbit environments.
• Correlate models to test data and verify what is known versus assumed.

Skills

Thermal-structural analysis

FEA modeling

Aerospace hardware

Education

Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering degree

Tools

ANSYS

Nastran

Abaqus

Job description

Cosmic Frontier Labs in San Francisco is seeking a thermal and structural modeling engineer to predict how our space telescope hardware behaves under launch loads and the extremes of orbit, turning analysis into confident design decisions.

You will build and validate coupled thermo-structural models, correlate them with test data, and drive design decisions in a fast-paced startup environment with high ownership.