Staff Engineer, Thermal - Air Vehicle (R4856)

Team: X-BAT Engineering - Mechanical

Location: United States, Dallas, Texas, San Diego, California

Commitment: Full Time Employee

Workplace Type: onsite

Job Description:

What you'll do:

• Execute thermal analysis and characterization efforts for unmanned aerial vehicle aircraft-level thermal systems.
• Architect and validate analytical, numerical, and computational models for heat transfer and fluid flow using hand calculations, finite difference methods, and CFD tools such as FloEFD.
• Execute trade studies, make system architecture decisions, own requirements generation, and make technical risk assessments.
• Define and oversee test planning, instrumentation, and data analysis to correlate models with experimental results.
• Mentor and guide cross-disciplinary teams in applying thermal/fluid fundamentals.
• Communicate technical findings through design reviews and technical reports.
• Proactively identify thermal risks, propose solutions, and influence aircraft thermal design.

Required qualifications:

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline.
Minimum 7 years of professional experience in thermal engineering.
Deep expertise in heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation) and fluid mechanics.
Advanced understanding of active and passive cooling solutions.
Knowledge of thermal management techniques for aircraft bays, engine bays, and hot surfaces.
Proficiency with thermal analysis and CFD tools (e.g., FloEFD, STAR-CCM+, Thermal Desktop).
Proficiency with CAD design tools such as NX, SolidWorks, or similar
Demonstrated ability to apply first-principles reasoning to complex engineering problems.
Strong communication and leadership skills.
Demonstrated record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others
Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.

Preferred qualifications:

M.S. in a relevant engineering discipline.
Extensive experience with high-altitude aircraft thermal management, analysis, and design.
Familiarity with aircraft integration constraints (power, weight, volume, maintainability, safety).
Hands-on experience with thermal and fluid system testing, instrumentation, and validation.
Knowledge of materials and manufacturing methods relevant to aerospace thermal management.
Experience guiding trade studies.
Background in multi-disciplinary system integration, spanning avionics, fluid systems, and systems engineering.