Thermal Systems Engineer II - Spacecraft Insulation Design

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 133,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental benefits

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Flexible schedule

Job summary

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California seeks a Thermal Engineer to design thermal systems, develop hardware, and lead insulation projects for spacecraft temperature control. You’ll work on MLI/SLI blankets, collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams, and travel for installations and testing.

The role focuses on hardware development, patterning, fabrication, and testing in a high-precision environment, reporting to the Thermal Fluid Systems & Hardware Group.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical or Chemical Engineering or equivalent with related experience.
• Demonstrated knowledge in heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and engineering lab work.
• Experience with MLI/SLI materials and CAD tools.

Responsibilities

• Design custom SLI and MLI blankets from requirements.
• Use CAD for blanket patterns in collaboration with MLI Lead Engineer.
• Support fabrication, bake-outs, delivery, and installation of flight MLI/SLI in a cleanroom.
• Guide material selection and implementation of thermal SLI and MLI with engineers.
• Oversee material traceability and flight-certified materials.
• Coordinate access and logistics for flight hardware with MLI Lead Engineer.
• Support logistics for assignments across multiple facilities and partners.
• Prepare technical design and test review presentations and close review actions.

Skills

Heat transfer

Fluid mechanics

Numerical methods

Engineering design

Engineering lab work

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Chemical Eng

Master's or PhD in related field (optional)

Tools

Thermal Desktop

TMG

SINDA/FLUINT

NX Space Systems Thermal

NX CAD / SolidWorks

MATLAB / LabVIEW

Job description

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California seeks a Thermal Engineer to design thermal systems, develop hardware, and lead insulation projects for spacecraft temperature control. You’ll work on MLI/SLI blankets, collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams, and travel for installations and testing.

The role focuses on hardware development, patterning, fabrication, and testing in a high-precision environment, reporting to the Thermal Fluid Systems & Hardware Group.