Mechanical Engineer - Thermal Systems (Rail)

About the role

Stadler US is looking for a Mechanical Engineer (Thermal Systems) in Salt Lake City, Utah. You will lead the development, integration, validation and continuous improvement of thermal management systems for railway vehicles, acting as both the thermal engineering subject matter expert and thermal system owner. The role covers HVAC systems, cab climate controls, traction cooling loops, battery thermal management systems, heat exchangers and fluid dynamics models.

Key responsibilities

• Develop concepts, specifications and technical documentation for rail vehicle thermal management systems and own thermal system requirements throughout the project lifecycle.
• Perform and review thermal load calculations, energy balance assessments, passenger comfort analyses and equipment cooling evaluations.
• Define thermal management strategies for HVAC systems, batteries (BTMS), power electronics and other onboard systems.
• Act as the main technical liaison with thermal and HVAC suppliers, reviewing their designs, calculations, documentation and test reports.
• Incorporate customer, regulatory, operational and environmental requirements into designs and define procurement documentation, verification plans and type testing requirements.
• Coordinate thermal interfaces with mechanical, electrical, software, carbody and vehicle engineering teams, and support climatic chamber, static and dynamic testing and vehicle commissioning.
• Investigate thermal performance issues, support First Article Inspections and production implementation, and help develop thermal engineering standards, tools and best practices.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in thermal engineering, thermal management, HVAC, cooling systems, heat transfer or thermodynamics.
• Experience in rail, aerospace, automotive, defense, heavy equipment, industrial equipment or transportation.
• Fluent English; German is a plus.
• Preferred: passenger rail, locomotive or metro vehicle experience, and familiarity with systems engineering and requirements management.

Required skills

• Thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, HVAC and refrigeration, thermal management and equipment cooling.
• Engineering calculations, thermal load analysis, system evaluation and technical investigations.
• Technical writing, problem solving and independent, structured work methods.
• Preferred: thermal modeling tools such as ANSYS, Icepak, Star-CCM+, FloTHERM or Simcenter.