- Robot type
- Drone · Defense
- Location
- Costa MesaCaliforniaUSA
- Job type
- Hardware
- Posted
- Aug 22, 2026
- Salary
- $129,000–$171,000 a year
Full-time
Thermal Engineer, Hypersonic Air Vehicles
Job description
The Thermal Engineering team's work is essential to support our rapid innovation cycle and maintain the performance and reliability of advanced defense technologies. Thermal Engineers own the full development life cycle from conceptual design through ground testing and flight test analysis, ensuring high-performance, resilient systems that meet the demands of complex, contested environments.
We are looking for Thermal Engineers to join our Hypersonic Air Vehicles team in Costa Mesa, CA. In this role, you will support the thermal design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles operating in demanding high-speed flight environments.
This role is ideal for someone early to mid-career with strong…
Job responsibilities
- Support thermal design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles at conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design maturities
- Perform thermal analysis of flight vehicles using CFD, FEA, and engineering methods
- Support material response modeling under combined thermal and mechanical loads
- Conduct transient thermal analysis for time-varying mission profiles
- Support ground test planning, execution, and analysis in specialized thermal test facilities
- Use first principles and MATLAB/Python models to inform design decisions
- Collaborate with aerodynamics, structures, electrical, and systems engineers on integrated solutions
- Present thermal analysis results at internal design reviews
Job requirements
- MS or higher degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Applied Physics with focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics
- In-depth understanding of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and high-temperature environments
- Coursework, research, or industry experience in thermal analysis for aerospace or high-performance hardware systems
- Experience with thermal analysis using CFD (STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent) and/or FEA thermal solvers through coursework, research, or industry work
- Programming experience in MATLAB, Python, or similar
- Passion for defending the United States and her allies
- Ability to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance
- 1-5 years of industry experience in aerospace thermal engineering on rocket, aircraft, or missile programs