Sr Thermal & Fluids Engineer

Owens Corning•Granville, OH

About The Position

The Senior Thermal & Fluids Engineer is a hands-on technical leader within Owens Corning’s Advanced Modeling & Simulation organization. The role applies thermal and CFD modeling to challenging research, product, process, and manufacturing problems across the company, with a focus on high-temperature heat transfer, radiation, combustion, complex fluid flow, and transport phenomena. The engineer builds and applies models to understand physics, evaluate design and operating changes, troubleshoot problems, and support technical decisions. Work may also involve broader CFD and multiphysics problems as project needs evolve. The successful candidate brings industrial modeling experience and sound engineering judgment, working with scientists, engineers, and business partners to connect simulation results with experimental and operating data and translate findings into practical recommendations. The role leads modeling activities from problem definition through validation and recommendation, balancing model fidelity, technical rigor, project timing, and business needs. It also includes technical mentoring, peer review, communication with stakeholders, and improving modeling practices. Travel may be required based on project and business needs.

Requirements

Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related engineering or applied-science discipline.
At least 5 years of industry experience applying thermal and CFD modeling to complex engineering, process, product, or manufacturing problems, including demonstrated experience in high-temperature thermal-fluid systems. Academic or postdoctoral research may complement but does not replace the required industry experience.
Demonstrated experience taking complex thermal/CFD models from initial problem definition through validation and application to an industrial engineering decision.
Modeling experience in several of the following: radiation heat transfer, combustion, conjugate heat transfer, turbulent flow, species transport, multiphase flow, particle tracking, and transient CFD.
Experience validating simulations against experimental, test, pilot, or operating data and recognizing practical model limitations.
Strong problem-solving and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with engineers, scientists, and project teams.
Depth in thermal sciences and sufficient CFD breadth to work across fluid-flow and transport problems.
Ability to select an appropriate modeling approach and level of fidelity for an ambiguous engineering problem.
Ability to connect computational results to physical behavior, test data, and practical engineering decisions.
Ability to recognize model limitations and uncertainty and communicate them clearly.
Ability to work independently on difficult technical problems while collaborating effectively with multidisciplinary teams.
Interest in improving simulation practices through automation, efficient modeling methods, and new computational approaches.

Nice To Haves

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Experience modeling glass and/or other high-temperature industrial processes involving radiation, combustion, heat transfer, and fluid flow.
Hands-on experience with GFM, ANSYS Fluent, STAR-CCM+, COMSOL Multiphysics, or comparable CFD/multiphysics software.
Experience using Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for simulation automation, data analysis, optimization, or post-processing.
Experience applying DOE, optimization, ROMs, surrogate models, machine learning, or other data-driven methods alongside physics-based simulation.
Exposure to coupled multiphysics modeling and collaboration with structural, materials, controls, or data-science teams.

Responsibilities

Demonstrate commitment to safe work practices and incorporate safety considerations into modeling, simulation, and engineering recommendations.
Lead thermal and CFD modeling for complex engineering problems involving high-temperature heat transfer, combustion, fluid flow, and transport phenomena.
Use simulation to understand system behavior, troubleshoot problems, evaluate design and operating changes, and identify performance improvements.
Develop and validate models using experimental and operating data, applying sound engineering judgment to model fidelity, assumptions, boundary conditions, and limitations.
Use parametric studies, design of experiments (DOE), optimization, reduced-order models (ROMs), and surrogate models when useful for exploring design and operating conditions.
Use Python, workflow automation, and AI/ML methods where practical to reduce repetitive simulation work, accelerate model setup and post-processing, and improve prediction or analysis.
Collaborate across disciplines to connect simulation results to underlying physics and translate findings into practical recommendations.
Lead modeling work from problem definition through technical recommendation, selecting an appropriate level of fidelity and balancing technical rigor with project timing and business needs.
Partner with research, product, process, manufacturing, and engineering teams to solve technical problems and identify where modeling can reduce experimentation, risk, or development time.
Communicate modeling approaches, assumptions, results, limitations, and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Provide technical guidance and mentoring to other engineers and contribute to peer reviews of models and results.
Stay current with advances in thermal sciences, CFD, ROMs, simulation automation, and data-driven modeling, and introduce new approaches when they provide practical benefit.