Senior/Lead Thermal CFD Simulation Engineer (GR 31)
PACCAR•Mount Vernon, WA
•$104,100 - $162,900
About The Position
The PACCAR Technical Center is seeking an experienced Thermal and CFD Engineer for aftertreatment, exhaust, and underbody thermal management to drive innovation in heavy-duty truck development. In this role, you'll partner directly with Kenworth and Peterbilt engineering teams to predict design viability, validate concepts through simulation-to-test correlation, and translate complex technical findings into actionable recommendations.
Requirements
- 7+ years of engineering experience
- 5+ years of CFD & Thermal Analysis experience
- Experience in industries such as automotive, aerospace, electronics cooling, HVAC, battery thermal management, or other relevant industries
- Comprehension of heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and numerical methods
- Expertise in CFD modeling, including meshing, solver setup, boundary conditions, and post-processing
- Skilled in CFD/thermal tools such as STAR-CCM+, Fluent, TAITherm
- Experience with CAD tools such as Creo, SolidWorks, CATIA, or similar
- Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and technical reporting skills
- Effective communication and teamwork skills for working with design, testing, and manufacturing teams
Nice To Haves
- MS or PhD preferred
Responsibilities
- Perform 3D thermal and CFD analysis for exhaust and aftertreatment systems
- Predict heat loss, pressure drop, underhood and underbody temperatures, under various load cases
- Evaluate DEF system thermal behavior, including doser, hoses, tank interfaces, and filling-related CFD needs
- Develop design recommendations on insulation strategy, heat shields, component clearances, exhaust routing geometry, bracket/structure thermal protection, and thermal zone definition
- Support concept-phase architecture studies, DFMEA inputs, and comparative A/B trade studies
- Conduct quick-turn sensitivity studies and simulation reruns to support design reviews
- Correlate simulation with test/validation data and help build a reusable simulation-to-validation knowledge base
- Develop simulation methodologies for underhood and underbody simulations
- Create engineering guidelines and best practices for clearance, shielding, and thermal protection
- Work cross-functionally with packaging, reliability, validation, plant support, and warranty teams
Benefits
- Competitive salary and 401k with up to a 5% company match
- Fully funded pension plan that provides monthly benefits after retirement
- Comprehensive paid time off – Minimum of 10 paid vacation days, 12 paid holidays, and sick leave
- Tuition reimbursement for continued education
- Medical, dental, and vision plans for you and your family
- Flexible spending accounts (FSA) and health savings account (HSA)
- Paid short- and long-term disability program
- Life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance
- EAP services including wellness plans, estate planning, financial counseling and more
- Global Fortune 500 company with a wide array of growth and development opportunities
- Work alongside experienced goal-oriented colleagues recognized as experts in their field
- Holiday gift
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
