Anduril
Thermal Engineer, Thermal Protection Systems (TPS)
$132K–$175K
Seattle, Washington, United States +1 · Full-time · Posted Sep 18, 2026
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, United States
Costa Mesa, California, United States - Experience
- 2+ years in TPS design, aerothermal analysis, or high-temperature material response for aerospace or defense systems; experience supporting thermal design for systems operating in extreme aerothermal environments is required.
- Education
- MS or PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field with a focus on aerothermodynamics, heat transfer, thermal sciences, or materials science.
- Visa sponsorship
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret security clearance.
About the job
Designs, analyzes, tests, and validates thermal protection systems for hypersonic and high-speed flight vehicles operating in extreme aerothermal environments.
What you'll do
- Own TPS design, material selection, and thermal analysis for flight vehicles.
- Analyze aerothermal heating and model ablation and material response to assess thermal margins.
- Plan thermal and material characterization tests and work with cross-functional teams to integrate TPS into vehicle designs.
What they ask for
- MS or PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field focused on aerothermodynamics, heat transfer, thermal sciences, or materials science.
- Strong first-principles understanding of aerodynamic heating, ablation, high-temperature heat transfer, and material thermal response.
- Experience with material response modeling tools such as FIAT, CMA, TITAN, or equivalent codes.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret security clearance.
Nice to have
- Experience with aerothermal CFD tools, arcjet or thermal characterization testing, or flight-article thermal instrumentation.
- Experience with high-temperature materials, radiation modeling tools, MATLAB or Python, NASA TPS tools, or flight programs.
Pay
$132,000 — $175,000 USD (base salary)
Tools
FIAT, CMA, TITAN, DPLR, US3D, Loci-CHEM, CFD++, ANSYS Fluent
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative