Senior Thermal Engineer- Air Vehicles

Anduril Industries
Costa Mesa, California, United StatesPosted 24 February 2026

Job Description

<div class="content-intro"><p>Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.</p></div><p> </p> <h3>ABOUT THE TEAM</h3> <p>The Thermal Engineering team's work is essential to support our rapid innovation cycle and maintain the performance and reliability of advanced defense technologies.</p> <p> </p> <h3>ABOUT THE JOB</h3> <p>We are looking for a Sr. Thermal Analysis Engineer to work in Costa Mesa, Ca, with In-depth understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>WHAT YOU’LL DO</strong></p> <ul> <li>Own the thermal design and analysis of a drone, aircraft, or missile.</li> <li>Use first principles as a basis for every decision and discern the right level of analysis to apply. Execute hand calculations, spreadsheet, and MATLAB/Python first-order models to inform path forward before jumping into detailed design.</li> <li>Define good thermal architecture to withstand rugged environments and demanding flight envelopes. Define hot, cold, and any other edge cases that need to be analyzed based on industry standards and intended use.</li> <li>Work with engineers in other disciplines to document power dissipations under different operating modes.</li> <li>Communicate pros/cons of system architecture with respect to thermal considerations.</li> <li>Own the thermal FEA/CFD models and predict system performance. Define red/yellow design limits for test and operation.</li> <li>Define and execute prototype builds and tests to verify thermal designs (do CAD, select sensors and DAQ equipment, post-process data, summarize results, etc.).</li> <li>Present thermal status at formal reviews internally and with customers. Provide clear understanding of timelines and technical status.</li> <li>Develop internal tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of analysis.</li> <li>Support failure reviews and root-cause analysis with test data and thermal analysis.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p> </p> <h4>REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS</h4> <p> </p> <ul> <li>Currently pursuing or have obtained a MS or higher degree in engineering or applied physics with focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics</li> <li>In-depth understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics</li> <li>Experience in the aerospace industry and an aircraft, rocket, or missile program</li> <li>5+ years of experience designing thermal systems for integrated hardware products</li> <li>Practical experience designing passive and active thermal management systems</li> <li>Thermal testing experience –sensor selection, data acquisition, data post-processing</li> <li>Thermal FEA experience –STAR-CCM+, ANSYS, Icepak, or Flotherm</li> <li>CAD experience with SolidWorks or Siemens NX</li> <li>Passion for defending the United States and her allies</li> <li> Be able to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p> </p> <h4>PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS</h4> <ul> <li>Experience developing code in higher-level languages like Python or MATLAB for applications like lumped thermal capacitance steady state and transient analysis</li> </ul> <p> </p><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">US Salary Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$146,000</span><span class="divider"></span><span>$194,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-concl ... (truncated, view full listing at source)