Thermal Engineer (Satellites / Space)

Thermal Engineer (Satellites / Space)
Location: Los Angeles, California, United States
Employment Type: Full-Time | On-Site
Package: Competitive Salary + Equity + Benefits + Flexible PTO

Are you a Satellite Thermal Engineer with a passion for automation, digital engineering, and intelligent analysis tools?

On offer is the opportunity to join a high-growth space company pioneering the next generation of satellite design through advanced computational engineering. You’ll take ownership of thermal design frameworks that connect CAD models, thermal simulations, hardware fabrication, TVAC testing, and on-orbit performance, transforming how spacecraft are thermally conceived, optimized, and validated.

Join a team revolutionizing space systems engineering with automation that compresses design and analysis cycles from weeks or months down to days or hours. You’ll architect intelligent workflows across thermal modelling, control hardware design, and digital engineering, driving exponential gains in speed, confidence, and mission reliability.

This position would suit a thermal engineer who codes, someone who blends first-principles understanding of heat transfer with strong Python-based software skills to redefine the thermal engineering process from the ground up.

Key Responsibilities
* Design, implement, and maintain automated thermal design and analysis tools for satellite thermal control systems.
* Develop integrated workflows and optimisation frameworks to trade temperature margins, power consumption, and mass.
* Build automation around finite difference / finite element thermal solvers, model correlation, and hardware integration.
* Own the end-to-end thermal design thread-from requirements and analysis through thermal hardware design, TVAC / thermal balance testing, and launch operations support.
* Integrate thermal workflows with internal PLM, CAD, and CAE environments to create a robust digital twin.
* Troubleshoot complex system-level thermal issues across hardware, software, and simulation environments.

Essential Skills and Experience
* Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or similar.
* Experience in satellite thermal design, analysis, and test.
* Proficiency in Python, with evidence of previous software development (GitHub, internal tools, or similar).
* Experience with CAD tools (e.g. Siemens NX, CATIA) and thermal analysis software (Thermal Desktop / SINDA, Icepak, NX Space Systems Thermal, or equivalent).
* Strong understanding of conduction, convection, and radiation, plus design of radiators, heat pipes, heaters, coatings, and MLI.
* Familiarity with PLM / data management tools (e.g. Teamcenter or similar).
* Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and a collaborative, low-ego mindset.

If you’re ready to architect the future of satellite thermal engineering, apply now or send your resume to jake.payne@newspacetechnical.com