Engineer II, Avionics Thermal Engineering (R5298)

Shield AI•San Diego, CA

25d

About The Position

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company focused on protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. As a Level 2 Thermal Engineer, you will own the design, analysis, and integration of aircraft avionics thermal management systems and electronics cooling. The role suits an engineer who applies first-principles problem solving, works through ambiguous and open-ended challenges, and communicates across functions to coordinate thermal management solutions.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
At least 2 years of professional experience in avionics or electronics thermal engineering.
Strong expertise in heat transfer, including conduction, convection, and radiation, and in fluid mechanics.
Strong understanding of active and passive cooling solutions and their integration at component and system levels.
Understanding of thermal management design elements including TIMs, spreaders, heat sinks, vapor chambers, heat pipes, and fans.
Proficiency with thermal analysis and CFD tools such as ANSYS Icepak, FloEFD, or STAR-CCM+.
Experience with CAD design tools such as NX, SolidWorks, or similar.
Demonstrated ability to apply first-principles reasoning to complex engineering problems.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to learn and adapt quickly to new tools, processes, and technical challenges in a fast-paced startup environment.

Nice To Haves

Master of Science in a relevant engineering discipline.
Experience with high-altitude aircraft avionics cooling and thermal design.
Familiarity with aircraft integration constraints, including power, weight, volume, maintainability, and safety.
Hands-on experience with thermal and fluid system testing, instrumentation, and validation.
Knowledge of materials and manufacturing methods relevant to thermal management.

Responsibilities

Own design, analysis, and testing of thermal solutions for unmanned aerial vehicle avionics.
Develop and validate analytical, numerical, and computational heat-transfer and fluid-flow models using hand calculations and CFD tools such as FloEFD.
Provide technical leadership in trade studies, system architecture decisions, and risk assessments.
Drive test planning, instrumentation, and data analysis to correlate models with experimental results.
Guide cross-disciplinary teams in applying thermal and fluid fundamentals.
Communicate technical findings through design reviews and written reports.
Identify risks, propose solutions, and influence electrical and/or PCBA design direction.