Thermal Test Engineer

Ford Motor • Long Beach, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Product Creation and Industrialization (PC&I) brings together Ford’s vehicle, electric, digital and design teams with our global manufacturing system. Working as one end-to-end organization, we turn ideas into high-quality vehicles, software and experiences across gas, hybrid and electric, designed around what customers need. In this position... Join our dynamic and agile team pioneering Ford's EV future. As a Thermal Test Engineer, you will be the person who proves our thermal management system works in the real world. Be the one who proves it works. Your test plans, instrumentation, and data will be the final word on whether our thermal system meets its targets — validating the sizing and tuning our engineers designed and signing off the attributes that let our vehicles perform in the harshest real-world conditions.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related thermal/fluid sciences discipline.
• 3+ years of experience in vehicle- or system-level thermal testing, validation, or a related test engineering role.
• Solid understanding of thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics as applied to vehicle thermal systems.
• Experience planning and executing instrumented vehicle tests, including data acquisition setup and thermal instrumentation.
• Proficiency with data analysis tools (e.g., MATLAB, Python, or equivalent) for processing and interpreting test data.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple test events, schedules, and facility constraints in parallel.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Experience with EV thermal management systems (battery, drive unit, power electronics, and cabin HVAC).
• Experience coordinating climatic chamber, wind-tunnel, and/or hot- and cold-weather proving-ground testing.
• Familiarity with vehicle communication protocols (CAN, LIN, Automotive Ethernet) and data logging from vehicle networks.
• Experience with attribute signoff or requirements-verification processes (e.g., DVP&R).

Responsibilities

• Own the planning, readiness, and execution of vehicle-level thermal testing, and deliver the data that validates system sizing/tuning and closes attribute signoff.
• Plan and execute vehicle-level tests that validate thermal system sizing and tuning against targets, correlating results back to system models.
• Develop comprehensive thermal test plans, including objectives, conditions, instrumentation, and success criteria, and drive test readiness so vehicles, facilities, and data systems are prepared ahead of each event.
• Manage the allocation and scheduling of thermal test vehicles across competing program needs, ensuring the right vehicle configurations are available when required.
• Plan and coordinate test trips and proving-ground events (logistics, timing, routes/conditions, and on-site execution) to capture the environmental extremes the thermal system must meet.
• Book and coordinate environmental/climatic chamber and wind-tunnel time, sequencing test matrices to make efficient use of constrained facility capacity.
• Define and oversee thermal instrumentation of test vehicles (thermocouples, pressure/flow sensors, data acquisition), ensuring sensor placement, channel counts, and DAQ setup deliver the data quality the test objectives require.
• Process, analyze, and clearly report test results to program stakeholders, flagging risks to targets and supporting the decisions that follow.
• Work closely with the subsystem owners, Controls Engineers, and test technicians to align test content, and partner with the Thermal Technical Program Manager on test timing and critical-path milestones.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

What This Job Offers

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