Thermal Mechanical Engineer

Arista Networks • Santa Clara, CA

1d

About The Position

The Thermal Mechanical Engineer will work on thermal engineering design challenges for high-end switching products. The role collaborates with Electrical Design, Software, Mechanical, and Program Leaders to fulfill overall system requirements and address thermal design issues across projects. The engineer contributes to thermal-mechanical solutions from concept through mass production, supporting product design, validation, and reliability. The position includes ownership of product engineering decisions, testing and analysis, simulation, documentation, system bring-up, and communication with internal teams, vendors, contract manufacturers, and customers. Travel to vendor, contract manufacturer, or customer sites for system bring-up and debugging may be required, typically locally.

The total estimated annual compensation range, including base salary, bonus, and equity, is $220,000–$400,000. The stated base salary range is $120,000–$180,000. Compensation varies according to factors including skills, qualifications, relevant experience, and work location; bonus and equity are discretionary and not guaranteed. US-based employees are entitled to medical, dental, vision, wellbeing, tax savings, and income protection benefits.

Requirements

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline; two years of experience preferred.
• Experience with 3D CAD and 2D drawings, preferably PTC Creo.
• Hands-on lab experience with high-power silicon, systems, and electronics (6 kW or greater).
• Experience characterizing and using thermal interface materials (TIM).
• Experience designing, testing, or qualifying coldplates or heatsinks.
• CDU experience, including understanding its operation and fundamental principles.
• Experience with system instrumentation, design of experiments (DOE), and strong root-cause analysis.
• Scripting experience in Shell, Python, Matlab, C, or similar.
• Strong understanding of heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics.
• Understanding of telemetry, data acquisition, and thermal characterization tools.
• Knowledge of GD&T and manufacturing practices, including brazing, skiving, additive manufacturing, welding, and heat treatment.
• Ability to frequently lift 50 pounds or more.
• Simulation experience with tools such as Fluent, Thermal Desktop, IcePack, or FloTherm.
• Liquid-cooling experience, including loop bring-up, thread standards, and corrosion practices.
• Fan testing and fan PQ experience, and understanding of fan blade or module design.
• PID experience with pumps and fan speed controllers.
• Familiarity with Open Compute Project (OCP) and standards for the datacenter space.
• Strong sense of ownership and a team-centric attitude.

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on experience in automotive, HVAC, plumbing, or electrical manufacturing.
• Coldplate machine shop experience.

Responsibilities

• Work across cross-functional teams to support product design, validation, and reliability of thermal solutions.
• Develop validation plans to qualify products and identify design improvements to systems and cooling solutions, including coldplates, ducts, fans, heatsinks, and thermal interface materials (TIM).
• Own products and make engineering decisions concerning specifications, system status, vendor deliverables, and program status for customers.
• Contribute to thermal-mechanical solutions from concept through mass production.
• Perform lab tests, including PQ, thermal, airflow, system stress, environmental chamber, and temperature-mapping tests.
• Collect and analyze test data and present results clearly to internal teams, vendors, and customers.
• Simulate current systems to validate test data against models using tools such as Macroflow, Ansys EDT, FloTherm, and IcePack.
• Identify thermal risks and blockers and recommend design changes.
• Generate technical documentation for vendors, contract manufacturers, and customers, and communicate with key stakeholders.
• Continuously improve lab and team equipment, design strategy, product quality, turnaround, and workflows.
• Develop automated workflows and scripts using tools such as Python and Matlab.
• Work with Hardware and Software teams to bring up and validate systems.
• Bring up next-generation switches from system to rack level.
• Travel to vendor, contract manufacturer, or customer sites for system bring-up and debugging, typically locally.

Benefits

• Medical benefits for US-based employees.
• Dental insurance for US-based employees.
• Vision insurance for US-based employees.
• Wellbeing benefits for US-based employees.
• Tax savings benefits for US-based employees.
• Income protection benefits for US-based employees.
• Discretionary bonuses and equity may be available for certain roles.

What This Job Offers

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