Senior Mechanical Engineer - CFD

GrowTech Industries, LLC • Buffalo, NY

9h • Onsite

About The Position

GTI Energy is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer with deep Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and thermal systems expertise to lead airflow, cooling, and thermal management design across modular energy and infrastructure products. This role will focus heavily on CFD-driven product development for enclosed systems including BESS platforms, modular data centers, power distribution equipment, and power generation systems. This is not a traditional HVAC or commercial building engineering role. GTI is specifically seeking engineers who have designed cooling systems for enclosed industrial equipment operating under real-world constraints including space limitations, airflow recirculation, heat rejection challenges, manufacturability, vibration, acoustics, and serviceability. The ideal candidate has experience modeling and optimizing thermal performance for battery systems, power electronics, generator enclosures, industrial skids, switchgear systems, or modular data center infrastructure where thermal performance directly impacts product reliability and operational uptime.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related engineering discipline
• 6–12+ years of experience in thermal systems engineering, CFD analysis, or mechanical product development
• Strong hands-on experience performing CFD analysis for enclosed industrial systems or thermal-critical products
• Experience sizing cooling systems based on actual heat loads and thermal performance requirements

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting BESS, modular data centers, power systems, or energy infrastructure products
• Experience validating CFD models through physical testing and heat-run correlation
• Background in enclosure design, sheet metal, weldments, or industrial packaging
• Familiarity with UL requirements, environmental testing, and thermal compliance standards
• Experience operating in high-growth manufacturing or engineered-to-order environments
• Master’s degree with concentration in thermal sciences, heat transfer, or fluid dynamics preferred
• Experience designing cooling systems for battery systems, power electronics, industrial skids, generator enclosures, modular data centers, switchgear, or similar equipment
• Strong understanding of airflow management within enclosed systems
• Experience with CFD tools such as ANSYS Fluent, Icepak, 6SigmaET, SolidWorks Flow Simulation, or similar platforms
• Strong understanding of mechanical integration, manufacturability, and enclosure packaging constraints

Responsibilities

• Lead CFD analysis and thermal modeling activities for enclosed industrial systems and modular infrastructure products
• Develop airflow simulations for BESS enclosures, modular data centers, power electronics, electrical rooms, and integrated equipment platforms
• Analyze airflow distribution, pressure drop, temperature gradients, recirculation zones, hot spots, and thermal rejection performance
• Validate system performance under worst-case operating and ambient conditions
• Optimize thermal architectures to improve cooling efficiency, reliability, acoustics, and manufacturability
• Design and integrate cooling systems based on actual equipment heat loads and operational requirements
• Develop enclosure airflow strategies including intake/exhaust placement, ducting, baffles, plenums, circulation paths, and pressure balancing
• Select and integrate off-the-shelf cooling equipment including HVAC units, heat exchangers, fans, chillers, and thermal management systems
• Design for real-world operating environments including dust, humidity, vibration, solar loading, and extreme ambient conditions
• Ensure designs meet thermal performance targets without excessive cost, noise, or packaging complexity
• Support mechanical packaging and enclosure design activities related to thermal system integration
• Coordinate thermal system layouts with structural, electrical, and manufacturing constraints
• Develop CAD models, engineering drawings, and BOMs supporting thermal and mechanical integration
• Ensure designs support manufacturability, serviceability, maintenance access, and production scalability
• Support prototype testing, heat runs, thermal validation, and system troubleshooting activities
• Correlate CFD models with physical testing data and refine simulations accordingly
• Analyze field performance data to identify opportunities for thermal improvement
• Participate in Root Cause Analysis for overheating, airflow imbalance, thermal failures, or reliability concerns
• Partner closely with Electrical Engineering, Structural Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, NPI, and Operations teams
• Support customer technical discussions related to cooling performance and thermal design strategy
• Work with manufacturing teams to ensure thermal solutions align with fabrication and assembly capabilities
• Support supplier selection and technical evaluation of cooling system components and technologies
• Drive DFM initiatives focused on scalable thermal system integration and assembly efficiency
• Reduce unnecessary complexity while maintaining thermal performance and reliability targets
• Standardize cooling architectures, airflow strategies, and thermal design methodologies where appropriate
• Contribute to engineering standards, calculation templates, and best practices for CFD and thermal analysis
• Serve as a subject matter expert for CFD analysis, airflow management, and thermal systems engineering
• Mentor junior engineers and support development of internal thermal engineering capability
• Influence system-level product architecture and cooling strategies across multiple programs

Benefits

• Opportunity to solve complex real-world thermal engineering challenges tied to AI infrastructure, energy storage, and mission-critical power systems
• High-impact role influencing product architecture, reliability, and system performance
• Collaborative engineering environment with strong manufacturing integration
• Exposure to advanced modular infrastructure products and large-scale industrial systems
• Significant career growth opportunity within one of the fastest-growing manufacturers in the United States

What This Job Offers

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