Senior Staff Thermal Engineer – Aircraft Avionics & Thermal Systems

About the role

Shield AI is seeking a passionate and innovative thermal engineer to develop state‑of‑the‑art AI and aircraft products. You will lead the design, analysis, and integration of aircraft avionics thermal‑management systems, with opportunities to work on aircraft‑level thermal and fluid systems.

Key responsibilities

• Contribute to thermal analysis and design for UAV avionics and thermal/fluid systems.
• Develop and validate analytical, numerical, and computational heat‑transfer and fluid‑flow models using hand calculations and CFD tools such as FloEFD.
• Drive test planning, instrumentation, and data analysis to correlate models with experimental results.
• Communicate technical findings through executive‑level briefings, design reviews, and written reports.
• Proactively identify risks, propose solutions, and influence electrical and PCBA design direction.

Required profile

• B.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering discipline.
• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in avionics or electronics thermal engineering.
• Strong expertise in heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation) and fluid mechanics.
• Deep understanding of active and passive cooling solutions and system‑level integration.
• Proficiency with thermal analysis and CFD tools (e.g., ANSYS Icepak, FloEFD, STAR‑CCM+).
• Proficiency with CAD tools such as NX or SolidWorks.
• Demonstrated ability to apply first‑principles reasoning to complex problems.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for technical discussions and stakeholder presentations.

Required skills

• Heat transfer analysis
• Fluid mechanics
• CFD (ANSYS Icepak, FloEFD, STAR‑CCM+)
• CAD design (NX, SolidWorks)
• Thermal management components (heat sinks, vapor chambers, heat pipes, fans)