Senior Staff Robotics Simulation Engineer - Thermal & Fluids Analysis

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Define the long-term vision for thermal and fluid dynamics simulation across the organization, aligning virtual product development (VPD) with the hardware engineering roadmap.
• Create and enforce standardized, practical CFD evaluation processes that transition our capabilities from academic research to high-velocity industrial execution (EVT/DVT/PVT).
• Lead the design of sophisticated thermal experiments and instrumentation strategies to synchronize simulation models with empirical data, achieving industry-leading predictive accuracy.
• Drive structural and thermal trade-off decisions for high-torque actuators, influencing mechanical architecture to optimize heat dissipation, weight, and power density.
• Build and govern a comprehensive, proprietary database of robotics-specific parameters, including advanced air models, radiation emissivity, and contact resistance coefficients.
• Lead the integration of thermal-fluid analysis with Static/Dynamic FEA, evaluating the holistic impact of thermal gradients on structural integrity and robotic precision.
• Serve as a key advisor to leadership on technical risks and hardware scalability, influencing design decisions across mechanical, electrical, and control software teams.
• Lead the technical review board for all thermal/fluid-related analyses and mentor other engineers to elevate the organization's collective simulation expertise.

Job requirements

• Strategic Execution: Translate high-level product goals into concrete simulation milestones, delivering robust hardware solutions even under extreme technical ambiguity.
• Systemic Collaboration: Navigate complex organizational structures to align divergent technical requirements into a unified, high-performance system design.
• Disruptive Innovation: Identify and implement cutting-edge simulation technologies (e.g., AI-driven optimization, real-time thermal digital twins) to maintain a competitive edge.
• Organizational Maturity: Proactively identifies gaps in current development processes and implements structural changes to boost engineering efficiency.
• Unrivaled proficiency in Ansys Fluent/Mechanical, STAR-CCM+, or Simcenter Flotherm, with deep experience in custom UDF (User Defined Function) development.
• Doctoral-level understanding of conduction, convection, and radiation, specifically in the context of high-power-density electromechanical systems.
• Proven ability to lead complex lab setups, utilizing high-end data acquisition (DAQ) and sensing technologies to validate virtual twins.
• Mastery of Python, C++, or MATLAB to build proprietary simulation tools and automate enterprise-level workflows.