Spacecraft Thermal Engineer
About The Position
The Aerospace Corporation is seeking a Spacecraft Thermal Engineer at the Member or Senior Member of the Technical Staff level. The role is part of the Thermal Control Department within the Vehicle Systems Division, which provides research, engineering, and technical support across space systems. The department specializes in spacecraft thermal control design and analysis, technical studies, experimental investigations, and real-time assessments. The engineer will support classified and unclassified spacecraft programs, with emphasis on classified systems. The role applies heat-transfer and thermal-engineering expertise to spacecraft and payload thermal control systems, engages with internal program offices and external customers, and advocates effective solutions and innovations for critical thermal-control issues across the enterprise. The position includes serving as a thermal subject matter expert; leading and conducting analysis, modeling, simulation, experimental investigations, and design assessments; contributing to subsystem requirements, allocations, design, integration, testing, and flight operations; developing departmental thermal-engineering capabilities; and providing technical leadership to teams of two or more people. Occasional travel to customer or contractor facilities is expected, approximately 10% of the time. The position requires maintaining a U.S. government-issued TS/SCI clearance; U.S. citizenship is required to obtain one.
Requirements
- B.S. degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a closely related field, with emphasis in heat transfer or thermal sciences.
- At least 1 year of thermal-engineering experience for the Member of the Technical Staff level.
- Experience designing, analyzing, manufacturing, testing, and operating spacecraft thermal-control systems across relevant active and passive heat-transfer modes and multiple phases of the program lifecycle.
- Experience with SINDA/FLUINT and Thermal Desktop software.
- Experience with thermal-vacuum (TVAC), thermal-cycle, and other environmental test programs.
- Willingness to travel occasionally to customer or contractor facilities, approximately 10% of the time.
- Ability to maintain a TS/SCI security clearance issued by the U.S. government; U.S. citizenship is required to obtain the clearance.
- For the Senior Member of the Technical Staff level: at least 4 years of thermal-engineering experience.
- For the Senior Member of the Technical Staff level: experience providing system-level thermal-engineering support for at least one spacecraft program, encompassing at least two major phases such as architecture, design, manufacturing, test, or flight.
- For the Senior Member of the Technical Staff level: experience participating in integrated-team thermal-engineering efforts, such as innovation projects, concurrent engineering, digital engineering, vehicle-level thermal design, hosted or multiple-payload missions, or anomaly and root-cause investigations involving two or more people.
Nice To Haves
- M.S. or Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a closely related field, with emphasis in heat transfer or thermal sciences.
- At least 4 years of direct spacecraft thermal-engineering experience.
- Knowledge of cryogenics, two-phase thermophysics and heat pipes, or thermodynamics.
- Experience in adjacent spaceflight-hardware engineering disciplines, such as systems engineering, control systems, fluid or propulsion systems, power systems, flight software, or telemetry systems.
- Demonstrated ability to conduct and lead research and development tasks.
- Current and active Secret or higher security clearance.
- Experience with other applicable software, including TSS, EES, SolidWorks, SpaceClaim, CAMEO, and scripting languages such as FORTRAN and Python.
Responsibilities
- Engage with internal program offices and external customers to identify, track, and resolve design, workmanship, and performance issues involving space-vehicle and payload thermal-control subsystems.
- Serve as the thermal subject matter expert for spacecraft and payload thermal-control systems.
- Lead and conduct analysis, modeling, simulation, experimental investigations, and assessments of spacecraft thermal-control systems, components, designs, and design concepts.
- Participate in and review thermal-subsystem requirements, allocations, design, integration, testing, and flight operations.
- Curate departmental knowledge and capabilities in thermal systems engineering, thermal analysis and design, and/or thermal-control hardware.
- Provide thermal-engineering technical leadership to teams of two or more people supporting programs, interdepartmental projects, and broader engagement efforts.
- Travel occasionally to customer or contractor facilities, approximately 10% of the time.
Benefits
- Comprehensive health care and wellness plans.
- Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation.
- Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options.
- 401(k) plan with company-paid contributions of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service, plus matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested upon hire.
- Flexible spending accounts.
- Variable pay program for exceptional contributions.
- Relocation assistance.
- Professional growth and development programs.
- Education assistance programs.
- An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
