Senior Engineer, Avionics Thermal Engineering (R5298)
About The Position
Shield AI is seeking a passionate and innovative Senior Thermal Engineer to join their team. This role focuses on developing state-of-the-art AI and aircraft products, specifically in the area of avionics thermal management systems and electronics cooling for unmanned aerial vehicles. The ideal candidate thrives on first-principles problem-solving, is comfortable with ambiguity, and can effectively communicate across different functions to ensure well-coordinated thermal management solutions. Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with a mission to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems, operating worldwide.
Requirements
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline.
- Minimum 4 years of professional experience in avionics or electronics thermal engineering.
- Strong expertise in heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation) and fluid mechanics.
- Strong understanding of active and passive cooling solutions and their integration at component and system level.
- Understanding of thermal management design elements including TIMs, spreaders, heat sinks, vapor chambers, heat pipes, and fans
- Proficiency with thermal analysis and CFD tools (e.g., ANSYS Icepak, FloEFD, STAR-CCM+).
- Experience with CAD design tools such as NX, SolidWorks, or similar.
- Demonstrated experience applying first-principles reasoning to complex engineering problems.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Proven ability to learn and adapt quickly to new tools, processes, and technical challenges in a fast paced, startup environment.
Nice To Haves
- M.S. in a relevant engineering discipline.
- Experience with high altitude aircraft avionics cooling and thermal 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 thermal management
Responsibilities
- Own thermal solutions for unmanned aerial vehicle avionics including design, analysis, and test.
- Develop and validate analytical, numerical, and computational models for heat transfer and fluid flow 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/fluid fundamentals.
- Communicate technical findings clearly through design reviews, and written reports.
- Proactively identify risks, propose solutions, and influence electrical and/or PCBA design direction.
Benefits
- Bonus
- Benefits
- Equity
- Temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
