Thermal Design Engineer, Project Kuiper (Satellites)

- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or related discipline, or equivalent experience.
- 3+ years of experience with thermal analysis software, including writing custom scripts to enable rapid design trades and iterations for system and subsystem optimizations for various use cases.
- 1+ year experience with test planning, test set-up, results correlation and system verification for production.
- 1+ year of experience in development of, and/or selection of, range of thermal control hardware, materials and finishes, paints, interface materials, MLI blankets, heat-pipes, radiators, temperature sensors, and or heaters.
- 1+ year experience with thermal simulation software (e.g., Thermal Desktop (SINDA), Ansys), and programming (e.g., python, Matlab).
- Advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) in mechanical engineering or related field.
- Experience with spacecraft thermal design, and delivering design solution optimized for mass, cost, reliability, performance, manufacturability.
- Experience developing hardware and spacecraft that have been to space, and which successfully operated as intended.
- Developing spacecraft thermal solutions for high power flux components .
- CAD skills (NX or Solidworks)
- Experience with interpreting and correlating data from on–orbit telemetry.

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Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $105,600/year in our lowest geographic market up to $185,000/year in our highest geographic market. Pay is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Amazon is a total compensation company. Dependent on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits. For more information, please visit https://www.aboutamazon.com/workplace/employee-benefits. This position will remain posted until filled. Applicants should apply via our internal or external career site.
Project Kuiper is an initiative to increase global broadband access through a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Its mission is to bring fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world. Project Kuiper will help close the digital divide by delivering fast, affordable broadband to a wide range of customers, including consumers, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations operating in places without reliable connectivity.

Export Control Requirement:
Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

We're looking for a Thermal Design Engineer who combines superb technical, research and analytical capabilities with a demonstrated ability to get the right work done quickly and effectively. This person must have experience working in spacecraft design, producing top notch thermal analysis and providing essential thermal related input and recommendations to vehicle architects and subsystem leads.

Key job responsibilities
- Support extensive architectural trades with preliminary thermal analysis on spacecraft and subsystems for orbital operational conditions and vehicle control options.
- Perform from conceptual to detailed analysis of Bus and Payload subsystems, components and mechanisms.
- Develop automated scripts enabling rapid analysis updates accommodating trades (power states, duty cycles, structural mapping).
- Design, analyze and select heat pipes as needed for bus and payload components.
- Develop automated scripts enabling rapid analysis updates accommodating trades (power states, duty cycles, structural mapping).
- Define and execute test setups for thermal cycling and TVAC tests for development and qualification testing at subsystem and vehicle level, and correlate test results with mission operations models.
- Define and select test equipment as needed (e.g., sensors, data logging equipment etc.)
- Perform thermal model correlation using test results.
- Conduct testing of prototypes and engineering models for fast design feedback loops.
- Plan and execute characterization, qualification and acceptance tests.
- Document trades and design evolution, and preparation of materials for design review gates.
- Support thermal design for terrestrial equipment and systems with CFD analysis

About the team
Kuiper’s Thermal Team is responsible for the thermal design solutions for all components in Kuiper’s satellites and customer terminals. We work together with many engineering disciplines (e.g., mechanical, power, electrical, network, manufacturing) to find the design that maximizes performance while minimizing mass, cost and manufacturing complexity, and enabling all components to operate reliably over the satellite’s target lifetime. The team follows all hardware components from conceptual design, detailed analysis, development testing, through launch and flight.