Thermal Controls Systems Engineer

Pebble • Fremont, CA

4h

About The Position

Pebble is a sustainable living startup defining a new way to live, work and explore from anywhere with a 100% electric, hassle-free RV trailer. Built by a team of experts in both automotive and consumer technology, Pebble combines electrification with cutting-edge automotive technology for a travel trailer experience that removes the hassles RV trailer owners have struggled with for decades.
At Pebble, we are building out the future of lighter, more flexible living. We see a world where your home can be anywhere you want to take it. Pebble blends the best of what it means to be at home, on the road, and off-grid into something useful and magical. This is a collective effort. Our team is dedicated to making not just products, but a lifestyle that is truly sustainable. If the idea of building out the future sparks your imagination and intersects with your skills, we’d love to meet you.
We're looking for a thermal control systems engineer who thinks in closed loops, not just heat transfer equations. At Pebble, the thermal challenge isn't just sizing a heat pump — it's making the system behave intelligently across wildly different conditions: a Phoenix summer, a Colorado winter, a customer who leaves the door open for an hour. That requires someone who owns both the physics and the control logic that brings it to life.
This role is for someone who has shipped real products and understands that a great thermal design is only as good as the controls running it. You'll be responsible for Pebble's thermal control systems, working closely with software engineering and systems engineering to ensure the full thermal stack — from architecture to algorithm to validated behavior in the field — performs the way customers actually need it to.

Requirements

• 5-15 years of experience in thermal systems, with meaningful depth in thermal controls — you need both the physics and the control layer, not just one.
• Demonstrated experience designing or tuning control systems for thermal applications — PID, model predictive control, state machine-based logic, or equivalent. You understand how the control layer makes or breaks a thermal system in the real world.
• Strong thermodynamics and heat transfer fundamentals — you know when to trust the physics and when to trust the test data.
• Experience working closely with software and systems engineering teams to bring control logic to life, with comfort contributing to control software specs or embedded implementation.
• A proven track record of shipping products — you've been through at least one full development cycle from concept to customer and have the scars to show for it.
• Hands-on experience working with suppliers and manufacturers to source, evaluate, and integrate components into a real system.
• Strong cross-functional collaborator — you can talk to a software engineer, a manufacturing partner, and a customer and adjust accordingly.
• Self-starter mentality — you identify the problem and go solve it.
• Comfortable with simulation tools as a supporting resource, not a crutch.
• Familiarity with automotive OEM standards and safety/regulatory requirements.
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Controls Engineering, or related field; Master's preferred.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with RVs, campervans, or mobile living spaces is a genuine bonus.

Responsibilities

• Be responsible for thermal control systems end-to-end — define control requirements, develop algorithms and state machines, tune system behavior in the real world, and validate performance across all operating conditions and climates.
• Own the control layer of the cabin thermal experience — translate comfort requirements into control logic that performs reliably whether it's 105°F in the desert or 10°F in the mountains.
• Design and implement HVAC control strategies, including compressor and fan management, pre-conditioning, and energy-aware operation tied to battery state.
• Drive thermal control decisions across the full vehicle — battery and powertrain cooling, electronics thermal management, cabin comfort — ensuring every system is properly coordinated and controlled.
• Work closely with software engineering and systems engineering on controls implementation, collaborate on embedded logic, and be capable of owning that implementation yourself.
• Partner with the broader thermal team on system architecture and validation, ensuring control strategies are grounded in real thermal physics and hardware behavior.
• Get hands-on with testing and validation — build test plans, get out to the test site, and trust physical results as much as any model.
• Contribute to design reviews as the controls voice in the room — clear, direct, and solutions-oriented.
• Grow with the role as Pebble scales — the scope here has room to expand significantly.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level