- Robot type
- Drone · Defense
- Location
- SeattleWashingtonUSA
- Job type
- Hardware
- Posted
- Apr 8, 2026
- Salary
- $173,080–$259,620 a year
Power Electronics - Thermal Engineer Senior Staff
Job description
Job Description: Are you a passionate and innovative thermal engineer looking to help develop state of the art aircraft? Are you eager to make a positive difference in the world? Do you want to work alongside mission driven and values focused teammates? Shield AI is just the place for you! As a Senior Staff Thermal Engineer at Shield AI, you will lead the design, analysis, and integration of aircraft avionics thermal management systems. We are designing a high voltage, high power system using custom power electronics and energy storage.
Job responsibilities
- Own thermal analysis and design efforts for unmanned aerial vehicle avionics including custom power electronics
- Develop and validate analytical, numerical, and computational models for heat transfer and fluid flow using hand calculations and CFD tools such as FloEFD
- Provide technical leadership in trade studies, system architecture decisions, and risk assessments
- Lead cross-functional teams designing power electronic circuits and environmental enclosures. Provide design requirements that impact circuit part selection, board layout, material selection, and other design aspects
- Drive test planning, instrumentation, and data analysis to correlate models with experimental results
- Mentor junior engineers and guide cross-disciplinary teams in applying thermal/fluid fundamentals
- Communicate technical findings clearly through executive-level briefings, design reviews, and written reports
- Proactively identify risks, propose solutions, and influence electrical and/or PCBA design direction
Job requirements
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline
- Minimum 7 years of professional experience in avionics or electronics thermal engineering
- Strong expertise in heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation) and fluid mechanics
- Deep understanding of active and passive cooling solutions and their integration at component and system level
- Deep understanding of thermal management design elements including TIMs, spreaders, heat sinks, vapor chambers, heat pipes, and fans
- Proficiency with thermal analysis and CFD tools (e.g., ANSYS Icepak, FloEFD, STAR-CCM+)
- Proficiency with CAD design tools such as NX, SolidWorks, or similar
- Demonstrated experience applying first-principles reasoning to complex engineering problems
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