Senior Thermal Engineer

Blue Bird Careers•Troy, MI

20h•Onsite

About The Position

Blue Bird Corporation is seeking a Senior Vehicle Thermal Systems Engineer to lead the vehicle-level thermal management strategy for next-generation commercial chassis platforms. This role involves overseeing engine and transmission cooling, HVAC integration, cooling module design, airflow management, coolant routing, fan strategy, thermal controls, and heat rejection performance across various commercial vehicle duty cycles. The engineer will make critical vehicle-level technical decisions impacting packaging, durability, serviceability, manufacturing, performance, and launch timing. This position requires significant autonomy to establish requirements, resolve complex trade-offs, and drive technical execution in collaboration with various internal teams, suppliers, and external engineering partners. It is a high-accountability role for an experienced thermal specialist capable of creating solutions from scratch, making sound decisions with incomplete information, and owning results from concept to production.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Automotive Engineering or related discipline with emphasis in thermal sciences, heat transfer, or fluid mechanics.
7+ years experience developing vehicle cooling systems, thermal architectures, HVAC systems, or heat rejection solutions for automotive, commercial vehicle, heavy-duty, off-highway, or similarly complex mobile platforms.
Deep expertise in commercial vehicle cooling systems, thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, refrigeration cycles, and airflow management.
Strong understanding of engine, transmission, HVAC, and auxiliary cooling systems for commercial or heavy-duty vehicle applications.
Proven ability to make vehicle-level technical trade-offs involving performance, packaging, durability, serviceability, manufacturing, cost, and launch timing.
Advanced experience with cooling module design, heat exchanger sizing, coolant routing, fan systems, thermal controls, and underhood airflow.
Proficiency with GT-SUITE, Simcenter Amesim, ANSYS Fluent, Star-CCM+, or equivalent thermal and CFD tools.
Experience developing requirements, DVP&R plans, DFMEAs, technical specifications, and system-level validation strategies.
Experience instrumenting and testing vehicles using thermocouples, pressure transducers, flow meters, data acquisition systems, and CAN-based tools.
Ability to direct suppliers and external engineering partners while maintaining technical ownership and accountability.
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, communication, and rapid decision-making skills.
All candidates must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States and will be required to provide proof of employment eligibility at the time of hire.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ownership of a major vehicle thermal system from concept through prototype development, validation, production launch, and issue resolution.
Experience integrating thermal systems into constrained chassis packaging environments while balancing vehicle-level performance and production requirements.
Experience making complex engineering decisions with limited structure, incomplete information, and aggressive program timing.
Experience working directly with manufacturing, suppliers, external engineering partners, and cross-functional vehicle development teams.
Experience with commercial trucks, buses, vocational vehicles, stripped chassis, body-on-chassis platforms, or incomplete vehicle applications.
Experience developing cooling architectures for high-load, high-ambient, low-speed, grade, extended-idle, or severe-duty operation.
Experience integrating multiple propulsion or vehicle configurations within a common commercial chassis architecture.
Experience with clean-sheet or major redesign vehicle programs operating under aggressive launch timelines.
Experience leading supplier technical development, component selection, industrialization, or recovery activities.
Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Automotive Engineering, or a related thermal discipline.
Experience resolving thermal issues during prototype builds, manufacturing launch, or customer field operation.

Responsibilities

Define and own the commercial chassis cooling architecture, including engine cooling, transmission cooling, HVAC integration, coolant circuits, airflow management, fan strategy, and thermal protection.
Design and optimize cooling modules, radiators, charge air coolers, condensers, heat exchangers, pumps, fans, valves, reservoirs, plumbing, and related components.
Lead integration of thermal systems into the chassis while balancing heat rejection, packaging, manufacturability, serviceability, durability, cost, and production readiness.
Develop cooling strategies for high ambient temperatures, low-speed operation, extended idle, grade performance, stop-and-go use, heavy payloads, and other severe commercial vehicle conditions.
Perform and interpret 1D and 3D thermal-fluid analyses to optimize coolant flow, airflow, heat rejection, fan performance, and system efficiency.
Define requirements and operating strategies for fans, pumps, valves, compressors, protection logic, and thermal derate functions in collaboration with controls engineering.
Provide technical direction to suppliers and engineering service providers while retaining ownership of requirements, component selection, design decisions, performance, and technical deliverables.
Develop and execute thermal DVP&R activities through laboratory, dynamometer, environmental, proving-ground, and vehicle testing to confirm readiness for production.
Support prototype builds, pilot operations, production launch, and early manufacturing by resolving packaging, assembly, supplier, and performance issues with urgency.
Lead investigation and resolution of overheating, insufficient heat rejection, coolant imbalance, leakage, airflow recirculation, HVAC deficiencies, thermal derating, and field reliability concerns.
Create structure and drive execution where requirements, packaging constraints, supplier capabilities, and technical solutions are evolving simultaneously.