Senior Thermal Engineer, Research & Development

Qnity Electronics•Sunnyvale, CA

8d•Onsite

About The Position

Qnity's Silicon Valley Technology Center (SVTC) is seeking a highly skilled Senior Thermal Engineer to join our leveraged R&D organization, where we do customer-facing applications engineering work focused on enabling the next generation of technology for local Silicon Valley OEMs. The Senior Thermal Engineer is expected to become the local Subject Matter Expert (SME) in thermal engineering and will join a highly skilled team of other local SMEs covering additional areas such as metrology, optics, mechanical, and electrical engineering. Together, the SME team works closely with additional local engineering support in the laboratories with the shared common goal of working closely with Silicon Valley customers and delivering solutions to their materials challenges. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership in planning and executing a comprehensive research and development program, including scale-up, focused on thermal materials engineering, heat transfer, and mechanical design for advanced electronics and semiconductor applications. This work will be driven by both internal and external customer needs, particularly in high-performance and electronic systems. Working collaboratively within cross-functional project teams, the candidate will contribute to the development of next-generation thermal management solutions, including thermal interface materials (TIMs), heat spreaders, encapsulants, and advanced composite systems aligned with key business objectives. A core responsibility of this role is to identify and create commercial value in thermally functional materials and systems by leveraging deep expertise in heat transfer, thermal conductivity enhancement, and structure–property–performance relationships in engineered materials.

Requirements

M.S. degree in mechanical engineering or closely related field, with 2-3 years of directly applicable engineering work experience with thermal materials and thermal management technologies
Demonstrated expertise in thermal interface materials (TIMs), gap fillers, phase-change materials, dielectric materials, or thermally conductive composites for electronics applications
Experience with semiconductor packaging, power electronics cooling, or high-performance computing thermal challenges is highly desirable
Demonstrated expertise in thermal design, characterization, reliability testing, and process development working with thermal materials such as but not limited to TIM1,1.5, and 2 materials
Knowledge of structure–property relationships in thermally conductive materials, including particle-filled systems, hybrid materials, and anisotropic heat conduction designs
Strong fundamentals in heat transfer, phase change materials, thermal modeling, and thermal characterization techniques
Proficiency with some specific and standard thermal and thermomechanical design and modeling software packages such as Anysis, Comsol, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, etc.
Proficiency with specific thermal characterization tools and methods such as LFA, DSC, TGA, IR thermotherapy, TIM testers, Phase 12, hot disk, etc.
Strong technical curiosity, able to learn quickly, and very comfortable working outside core areas of expertise and with cross-functional teams
Strong analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills
Track record of successful customer engagement and project leadership
Familiar with project management best practices such as Agile, Stage Gate, etc.
Experience working with national and international testing standards such as JEDEC, IPC and ASTM, etc.
Able and willing to travel as required to support customer projects (up to 20%)

Nice To Haves

Ph.D. in mechanical engineering or closely related field, with 3+ years of directly applicable engineering work experience
Experience working with or for local Silicon Valley companies in the thermal component of relevant industries such as consumer electronics, aerospace & defense, automotive, robotics, telecommunications, data center
Strong desire to translate research into commercial thermal solutions, with a results-oriented mindset.
Excellent project management, planning, prioritization, and leadership skills.
Strong interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders
Active in national, regional, and/or local chapters of professional societies and conferences, such as ASME, SEMI-THERM, etc.
Patent and publication history in relevant technical domains
Award-winning contributions to R&D organizations

Responsibilities

Lead applications development projects related to mechanical design and mechanical systems for local customers
Drive customer solutions from concept to commercialization
Work closely with other SMEs at SVTC to form a close-knit engineering team capable of rapidly solving any customer problem
Respond rapidly and with high motivation to customer needs and opportunities as they arise; be comfortable with changing priorities as customer needs evolve
Engage with Silicon Valley customers to understand their needs and proactively support their next generation of technology
Connect the broader Qnity R&D organization to local Silicon Valley opportunities; be a regional leader in mechanical and thermal engineering expertise
Represent Qnity SVTC in industry consortium and at conferences
Deliver technical training and seminars to internal teams and external partners as necessary
Mentor junior engineers and contribute to their technical and professional development