Lead Mechanical Engineer – Thermal, Space Vehicle and Payload

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Florida, +1 more state.

📋 Description

• Act as the technical lead for thermal design at the spacecraft level, establishing architecture, strategies, and requirements for highly reliable space vehicles.

• Create comprehensive thermal models and analyses for all mission phases, addressing extreme hot/cold environments, eclipse conditions, orbital variations, and mission-specific scenarios.

• Oversee the development and validation of thermal control hardware, including but not limited to radiators, coatings, heat pipes, surface finishes, insulation, heaters, and conductive interfaces.

• Manage thermal performance budgets and ensure the flow-down of requirements to payloads, avionics, structures, and propulsion subsystems.

• Assess the thermal impacts of system trades, configuration modifications, power profiles, and operational timelines.

• Lead the development of thermal math models utilizing Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT, ESATAN-TMS, or similar tools.

• Provide leadership throughout the spacecraft hardware build, integration, and testing phases, including planning and executing TVAC, resolving anomalies, and correlating test outcomes to analyses.

• Advise on environmental considerations for space platforms, including radiation, conduction, convection-free behavior, material properties, surface degradation, and mission lifespan effects.

• Collaborate with systems engineering, mechanical design, power, RF, digital hardware, manufacturing, and mission assurance teams.

• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers while promoting continuous improvement in thermal engineering processes.

• Prepare thermal requirements, analysis reports, review packages, test plans, and verification matrices.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering with a minimum of 9 years of relevant experience, or a Graduate Degree in Engineering with at least 7 years of related experience, or alternatively, a minimum of 13 years of relevant experience in lieu of a degree.

• Over 5 years of professional experience utilizing Thermal Desktop.

• Previous or current professional experience in thermal design and analysis for space environments/products.

• A minimum of 2 years of experience as an IPTL or in a role providing technical leadership to an engineering team.

• Capability to obtain a US security clearance.

• Experience in designing for space environments.

• Profound knowledge of spacecraft materials, thermal coatings, MLI, conductive interfaces, and active thermal control systems.

• Proven success in developing, validating, and correlating thermal models with TVAC results.

• Experience in government, DoD, or national security space missions.

• Familiarity with mission-specific environments such as GEO, LEO, cislunar, or deep space.

• Comprehensive understanding of thermal-fluids physics, including heat conduction and convection of multi-phase flows.

• Experience in creating and managing thermal testing control logic in SINDA/FLUENT.

• Knowledge of structural-thermal-optical (STOP) analysis, thermal behavior of deployment mechanisms, or thermal considerations in RF/high-power payloads.

• Experience with reliability assessments, derating, and long-duration thermal performance modeling.

🏝️ Benefits

• Relocation assistance available for qualified applicants.

• Health and disability insurance.

• 401(k) match.

• Flexible spending accounts.

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

• Education assistance.

• Parental leave.

• Paid time off.

• Company-paid holidays.

• 9/80 schedule with every other Friday off.