Shield AI
Sr. Staff Thermal Engineer - Aircraft Avionics & Thermal Systems (R3930)
Seattle, Washington · Senior Staff · Full-time · Posted Oct 13, 2026
- Experience
- Minimum 10 years of professional experience in avionics or electronics thermal engineering.
- Education
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline.
- Visa sponsorship
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance is desired.
About the job
Leads the design, analysis, testing, and integration of thermal management systems for aircraft avionics, with potential work on aircraft-level thermal and fluid systems.
What you'll do
- Analyze and design thermal and fluid systems for unmanned aircraft avionics; develop and validate heat-transfer and fluid-flow models.
- Plan tests, instrumentation, and data analysis to correlate models with experimental results.
- Communicate findings, identify risks, and influence electrical and/or PCBA design direction.
What they ask for
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
- Minimum 10 years of professional experience in avionics or electronics thermal engineering.
- Expertise in heat transfer and fluid mechanics, including active and passive cooling and thermal management components.
- Proficiency with thermal analysis/CFD tools and CAD design tools; demonstrated first-principles problem-solving and strong technical communication.
Nice to have
- M.S. or Ph.D. in a relevant engineering discipline.
- Experience with high-altitude aircraft avionics cooling and thermal design.
Tools
FloEFD, ANSYS Icepak, STAR-CCM+, NX, SolidWorks, TIMs, vapor chambers, heat pipes
AI focus
The role supports development of AI and aircraft products, but its described work focuses on aircraft avionics and thermal systems.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative