Senior FEA/CFD Simulation Engineer

Watlow Recruitment Team • St. Louis, MO

20h

About The Position

We are seeking a highly motivated Computational Engineering Engineer to join our Global Computational Engineering Team. This role will lead advanced simulation and digital engineering efforts supporting product development, process improvement, and technology innovation across multiple business units. The successful candidate will apply Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), thermal-fluid sciences, and engineering analytics to solve complex engineering challenges. This individual will collaborate closely with product research and development, manufacturing, testing, and technology teams to accelerate innovation and improve product performance, reliability, and manufacturability.

Requirements

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, or related discipline.
• Minimum 8 years of engineering experience with significant experience in computational engineering and simulation.
• Strong expertise in heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and engineering mechanics.
• Demonstrated experience with FEA and CFD software such as ANSYS Mechanical, Fluent, CFX, COMSOL, STAR-CCM+, or equivalent.
• Experience performing thermal and structural analyses for complex engineering systems.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and collaborate effectively across global teams.
• Experience on FEA structural analysis.

Nice To Haves

• Ph.D. in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Experience with industrial heating systems, semiconductor equipment, process equipment, or thermal management applications.
• Experience with multiphysics simulations involving thermal, structural, electrical, and fluid interactions.
• Knowledge of Python, MATLAB, data analytics, machine learning, or automation tools.
• Experience with design optimization, DOE, surrogate modeling, or reduced-order modeling techniques.
• Experience supporting global engineering organizations and customer-facing technical projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex thermal, structural, fluid flow, and multiphysics simulation projects.
• Develop and validate FEA and CFD models for thermal systems, industrial thermal equipment, semiconductor processing applications, and related technologies.
• Conduct steady-state and transient thermal analyses, thermal stress evaluations, modal analyses, and flow simulations.
• Support design optimization through simulation-driven engineering approaches.
• Partner with design engineers to evaluate concepts, identify risks, and improve product performance early in the development process.
• Provide simulation-based recommendations for design improvements and product standardization initiatives.
• Support root cause investigations and failure analysis efforts.
• Develop validation plans and correlate simulation results with laboratory and field test data.
• Quantify uncertainty and establish best practices for model verification and validation.
• Improve simulation methodologies and modeling standards.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in computational engineering and simulation technologies.
• Mentor junior engineers and provide technical guidance across the organization.
• Lead cross-functional technical reviews and communicate complex simulation results to diverse audiences.
• Promote simulation best practices in Watlow engineering community.
• Support development of digital engineering capabilities, including digital twins, engineering analytics, AI/ML applications, and automation tools.
• Identify opportunities to improve engineering efficiency through advanced modeling and data-driven approaches.
• Contribute to long-term computational engineering strategy and technology roadmaps.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Annual Incentive Program
• 401(k) plan that includes a company match on your contribution and an annual company contribution that is tied to company performance
• Wellness incentives
• Employee Personal Assistance Program
• Dental, medical, vision and short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Paid holidays, personal time, and vacation
• Parental leave
• Tuition reimbursement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior