Senior Thermal Engineer, Mission Electronics
Anduril · Costa Mesa, United States · 1mo ago
Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.
About the Team
The Thermal Engineering team enables Anduril’s rapid hardware development cycle by ensuring advanced defense systems perform reliably in demanding real-world environments. The team works across high-power, tightly integrated products where thermal architecture, analysis, testing, and cross-functional design decisions directly affect product performance, reliability, and mission success.
About the Role
We are looking for a Senior Thermal Engineer to work in Costa Mesa, CA, focused on the thermal design of electronic assemblies. You will own the thermal architecture of these across products spanning air vehicles (fixed wing & rotorcraft), maritime and ground systems, and wearables/body-worn devices, and you will bring an in-depth understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics to bear on hardware that must survive real operational environments.
What You'll Do
- Own the thermal design and analysis of electronics—from board and component level up through enclosures and full assemblies—for products across air vehicles, maritime and ground systems, and wearables/body-worn devices.
- Use first principles as the basis for every decision and discern the right level of analysis to apply. Execute hand calculations, spreadsheets, and MATLAB/Python first-order models to inform the path forward before jumping into detailed design.
- Define thermal architecture and heat-rejection paths—conduction, natural and forced convection, cold plates, heat sinks, heat pipes, thermal interface materials, and coatings—to keep components within junction and touch-temperature limits across demanding environments.
- Establish hot, cold, and edge-case operating conditions for each platform based on industry standards and intended use, accounting for altitude and flight envelopes on air vehicles, salt fog and humidity in maritime environments, solar load and enclosed cabinets on ground systems, and human-contact and comfort limits on wearables.
- Work with electrical, mechanical, and systems engineers to characterize and document component power dissipation under different operating modes.
- Communicate the pros and cons of system and packaging architectures with respect to thermal considerations, and drive trade studies that balance thermal margin against size, weight, and power.
- Own the thermal FEA/CFD models and predict system performance. Define red/yellow design limits for test and operation.
- Define and execute prototype builds and tests to verify thermal designs (do CAD, select sensors and DAQ equipment, post-process data, summarize results, etc.).
- Present thermal status at formal reviews internally and with customers. Provide a clear understanding of timelines and technical status.
- Develop internal tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of analysis.
- Support failure reviews and root-cause analysis with test data and thermal analysis.
Required Qualifications
- MS or higher degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, applied physics, or a related field with a focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics (BS with additional experience considered)
- In-depth understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics
- 5+ years of experience designing thermal solutions for electronics or integrated hardware products
- Practical experience with electronics cooling and packaging—component and board-level thermal management, TIMs, heat sinks, heat pipes, cold plates, and enclosure heat rejection
- Practical experience designing both passive and active thermal management systems
- Thermal testing experience—sensor selection, data acquisition, and data post-processing
- Thermal FEA/CFD experience—STAR-CCM+, ANSYS, Icepak, or FloEFD
- CAD experience with Siemens NX or SolidWorks
- Passion for defending the United States and her allies
- Be able to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience developing code in higher-level languages like Python or MATLAB for applications such as lumped-capacitance steady-state and transient analysis
- Experience with thermal design across multiple product classes—air vehicles, maritime or ground systems and electronics enclosures, or wearable/body-worn devices
- Familiarity with defense/aerospace environmental standards (e.g., MIL-STD-810) and thermal derating of electronic components
- Experience with active cooling approaches such as fans, TECs, liquid cooling, or two-phase systems
The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:
Benefits
At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.
Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams
Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information.
To ensure your safety and help you navigate your job search with confidence, please keep the following critical points in mind:
-
No Financial Requests: Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates.
- Please always verify communications:
- Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an
@anduril.comaddress. - Via Agency Partner: If contacted by a recruiting agency for an Anduril role, their email will clearly identify their agency. If you suspect any suspicious activity, please verify the agency's authenticity by reaching out to contact@anduril.com.
- Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an
-
Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links.
-
What to Do If You Suspect Fraud: Should you encounter any questionable or fraudulent outreach claiming to be from Anduril, please report it immediately to contact@anduril.com. Your proactive caution is invaluable in protecting your personal information and upholding the security and trustworthiness of our recruitment efforts.
Data Privacy
To view Anduril's candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://anduril.com/applicant-privacy-notice/.
By submitting your application, you consent to Anduril Industries using a third-party service provider to conduct pre-employment risk, integrity, and due diligence screening and assessing potential risks as part of your application process. This third-party service provider provides risk-intelligence services that may include analysis of sanctions and watchlists, adverse media, public-record information, and other lawful open-source or commercial data sources. This third-party service provider does not act as a consumer reporting agency. Use of this provider helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect technology, intellectual property, and organizational security.