Senior Thermal Engineer
About The Position
Shape the future of in-space manufacturing. As a Senior Thermal Analysis Engineer at Varda, you'll own thermal architecture for vehicles that ascend, operate on orbit, and return to Earth — from first-principles hand calculations to flight-anchored models. This is a rare role with full lifecycle exposure: concept, design, production, integration, test, and live mission operations. You'll serve as the thermal authority across the vehicle engineering team, interfacing with structures, avionics, GNC, and mission operations to ensure every component and system survives every environment, every phase. A proactive problem-solving mindset and comfort with tight schedules are essential — as is a genuine curiosity about the physics of heat and mass transfer.
Requirements
- BS in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering + 5 years of related professional experience, or MS + 3 years
- Experience developing passive and active thermal control systems
- Proficiency in Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT, ANSYS, or MSC Nastran
- Experience anchoring thermal models to test and/or flight data
- Experience in planning and executing TVac testing
- MATLAB (or equivalent) for data processing and task automation
- Ability to structure open-ended problems and perform initial sizing with hand calculations
- Experience with 0D and 1D thermal and/or fluid networks
- Familiarity with thermal margins and test requirements per SMC-S-016
- Strong written and verbal communication skills across disciplines (structures, avionics, software, GNC, production, etc.)
Nice To Haves
- 7–10+ years of related professional experience
- Experience across the full spacecraft lifecycle — concept through mission operations
- Familiarity with spacecraft thermal control technologies (heat pipes, pumped fluid systems, thermal blankets, optical coatings)
- Experience in thermal design and analysis of reentry systems
- Project management or technical leadership experience
Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain integrated thermal analysis models for Varda's space vehicles across all mission phases, from ascent through reentry
- Define passive and active thermal control architecture — MLI blankets, optical coatings, heaters, heat pipes, and more — with a bias toward operational simplicity and system robustness
- Predict thermal loads and provide guidance for component-level acceptance and qualification testing
- Plan and execute vehicle-level Thermal Vacuum (TVac) test campaigns for future vehicles
- Anchor thermal models to TVac and flight data; continuously assess performance and improve model fidelity
- Publish flight temperature predictions and active thermal control outputs to support hardware teams, energy budgets, and mission operations
- Flex between quick hand calculations and detailed analysis to support program decisions and assess vehicle risk
- Contribute to thermal team data processing and documentation workflows as vehicle production and mission operations scale
- Mentor junior engineers and serve as a technical peer reviewer
- Work collaboratively with other disciplines to define thermal hardware requirements (optical properties, conductances, insulation, attitude control, etc.)
Benefits
- Exciting team of professionals at the top of their field working by your side
- Equity in a fully funded space startup with potential for significant growth (interns excluded)
- 401(k) matching (interns excluded)
- Unlimited PTO (interns excluded)
- Health insurance, including Vision and Dental
- Lunch and snacks provided on site every day. Dinners provided twice a week.
- Maternity / Paternity leave (interns excluded)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
