Thermal Engineering Technical Leader
About The Position
Cisco is seeking a Thermal Engineering Technical Leader to join a dynamic team focused on developing advanced thermal solutions for high-performance networking and compute platforms. This senior individual contributor role is part of a collaborative environment that drives innovation in liquid and air cooling systems, including cold plates, CDUs, heat sinks, and vapor chambers. The team works closely with hardware design, manufacturing, and supplier engineering groups to integrate robust thermal technologies at scale, contributing to Cisco’s next-generation ASIC, optical, and power systems. In this role, you will lead the design, simulation, validation, and production readiness of product-level thermal solutions, both liquid and air-cooled. You will own modeling, simulation, thermal testing, and performance validation workflows, partnering with suppliers, ODMs, and internal teams to evaluate and implement new cooling technologies. Your work will define design parameters, correlate physical testing with simulation models, and collaborate with Cisco hardware design teams to roadmap next-generation thermal strategies. You will also contribute to cross-functional efforts to improve qualification and specification standards, driving innovation and ensuring high-performance system design.
Requirements
- BS in Material Science, Mechanical, or Chemical Engineering (MS preferred) or related.
- 8+ years of experience in thermal/mechanical design for electronics
- Direct experience with liquid cooling systems: cold plates, manifolds, pumps, CDUs
- Strong working knowledge of air-cooled solutions: heat pipes, vapor chambers, TIMs
- Hands-on validation and troubleshooting with thermal data acquisition tools
- Proficient in CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and simulation-to-test correlation
- Quick learner, adaptive in learning through sensing and academic research
Nice To Haves
- 10+ years of experience in microelectronics thermal management
- Proven experience productizing liquid cooling solutions, beyond lab or R&D work
- Familiarity with component packaging (BGA, Flip Chip, 2.5D/3D IC)
- Understanding of component and system reliability for thermal subsystems
- Effective communicator with ability to present findings to cross-functional and executive audiences
Responsibilities
- Lead the design, simulation, validation, and production readiness of product-level thermal solutions, both liquid and air-cooled.
- Own modeling, simulation, thermal testing, and performance validation workflows.
- Partner with suppliers, ODMs, and internal teams to evaluate and implement new cooling technologies.
- Define design parameters and correlate physical testing with simulation models.
- Collaborate with Cisco hardware design teams to roadmap next-generation thermal strategies.
- Contribute to cross-functional efforts to improve qualification and specification standards.
Benefits
- medical, dental and vision insurance
- a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
- paid parental leave
- short and long-term disability coverage
- basic life insurance
- 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
- 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco
- 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees (non-exempt)
- flexible vacation time off program (exempt)
- 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next
- Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
- annual bonuses (for non-sales roles)
- performance-based incentive pay (for sales roles)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
