Thermal Systems Engineer, Integration

Ford Motor Company; Long Beach (CA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 233,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Vehicle discount program

Tuition assistance

Paid time off

Job summary

Ford Motor Company in California seeks an experienced Thermal Systems Engineer to own the integrated thermal architecture for EV programs, collaborating with coolant, refrigeration, and climate subsystems to ensure cohesive design and robust interfaces.

The role requires 5+ years in thermal design, proficiency with MATLAB/Simulink and GT-SUITE, and strong thermodynamics knowledge. This is a hybrid role supporting cross-functional teams in a fast-paced EV environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years in thermal system design, integration, or component engineering.
• Experience with multiple thermal subsystems (coolant, refrigeration, climate).
• Proficiency with modeling tools (MATLAB/Simulink, GT-SUITE).

Responsibilities

• Execute and deliver the integrated thermal system under the Thermal Engineering Manager.
• Maintain system architecture and interface definitions as design evolves.
• Decompose requirements into subsystem interfaces and ensure traceability.
• Build and analyze a cohesive system-level model of energy flows and dynamics.
• Perform system-level trade-off studies and present recommendations to management.
• Collaborate across subsystem owners to ensure clean interface integration.
• Drive cross-subsystem issue resolution and coordinate fixes to closure.
• Support design reviews with integrated analyses and data-driven options.

Skills

Thermal design

System integration

Thermal modelling

Python

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

GT-SUITE

CATIA/NX/3DX

Job description

We made history and now we work to transform the future – for our customers, our communities and our families. You'll see your work on the road every day, helping people move freely and pursue their dreams. At Ford, you can build more than vehicles. Come build what matters.

Ford’s Electric Vehicles, Digital and Design (EVDD) team is charged with delivering the company’s vision of a fully electric transportation future. EVDD is customer-obsessed, entrepreneurial, and data-driven and is dedicated to delivering industry-leading customer experience for electric vehicle buyers and owners. You’ll join an agile team of doers pioneering our EV future by working collaboratively, staying focused on only what matters, and delivering excellence day in and day out. Join us to make positive change by helping build a better world where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams.

What you'll do

You will execute and deliver the integrated thermal system under the technical direction of the Thermal Engineering Manager.

Execute and maintain the thermal system architecture, keeping the system block diagrams and interface definitions current as the design evolves.

Work with subsystem owners to decompose vehicle and system level requirements into consistent, traceable subsystem interface requirements, and maintain traceability from vehicle targets through to each subsystem owner's component specifications.

Integrate the individual subsystem plant models (coolant, refrigeration, climate) into a cohesive system-level model, and use it to analyze energy flows, dynamic behavior, and mode transitions across the full operating envelope.

Perform system-level trade-off studies and present decision-ready recommendations to Thermal Engineering manager for review.

Work day-to-day with the coolant, refrigeration, and climate subsystem owners to ensure their component specifications, selections, and models align at the interfaces and integrate cleanly into the system.

Own the resolution of cross-subsystem hardware issues. Triage where a problem lives, coordinate with the responsible subsystem owner, and drive the fix to closure.

Collaborate with test engineers to define and execute system-level characterization and validation, correlating the integrated model against empirical data and retiring system risk.

Support Thermal management in design reviews, requirements reviews, and technical readouts by preparing the integrated analysis, data, and options that inform architecture and trade‑off decisions.

Interface with Design and Controls Engineers to ensure the integrated system packages correctly and that the system model meets the needs of algorithm development.

You’ll have

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related thermal/fluid sciences discipline or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.

5+ years of experience in thermal system design, integration, or component engineering, with hands‑on exposure to more than one thermal subsystem (coolant, refrigeration, and/or climate).

Strong understanding of thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics across both liquid‑cooling and vapor‑compression domains.

Experience with physical system modeling and simulation tools (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink, GT‑SUITE, etc.).

Proficiency in Python or similar programming languages for model development.

Demonstrated ability to coordinate across multiple engineering teams and keep several parallel workstreams moving to closure.

Even better, you may have…

Master's or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering or related engineering discipline.

Experience with EV thermal management systems, including integrated cabin‑and‑powertrain architectures and heat‑pump systems.

Familiarity with vehicle communication protocols (CAN, LIN, Automotive Ethernet).

Experience with 3D CAD (CATIA/NX/3DX) sufficient to reason about packaging and topology at the system level.

Strong collaborative skills to work across hardware and software teams in a fast‑paced EV development environment.

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp‑up programs, subsidized back‑up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time

This position is a salary grade 6-8 and ranges from $100,400-$232,700.

Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate's skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive market value.

For more information on salary and benefits, click here: https://fordcareers.co/GSR

Visa sponsorship is available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

This position is hybrid. Candidates who are in commuting distance to a Ford hub location may be required to be onsite four or more days per week. #UEV