Thermal Engineer

Department: Vehicle Engineering

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Redondo Beach

Reporting To: Seth Kovnat, Director of Vehicle Engineering

Compensation: $95,000 - $115,000 / year

Description

As a Thermal Engineer at Impulse, you will be responsible for thermal management of spacecraft from concept, analysis, and design, to implementation, testing, and flight while working closely with a fast-paced, agile team that strives to make a high-performance spacecraft from a clean sheet design.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain thermal models of spacecraft, systems, and components
• Determine appropriate physical properties, environments, and boundary conditions
• Select and design of thermal management hardware
• Oversee and define thermal cycle and vacuum testing of components and spacecraft
• Analyze test data to correlate models and improve model fidelity
• Collaborate with design engineers to implement effective thermal management strategies
• Communicate with suppliers to determine properties and specify requirements of materials
• Thoroughly document analyses and designs including instructions for implementation

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering
• 1+ years' of demonstrated experience in developing and maintaining thermal models of spacecraft, systems, components, etc. 
• 1+ years' of demonstrated experience in selection/design and implementation of thermal management hardware such as heat pipes, radiators, heaters, thermal paint, tape and MLI
• Ability to perform thermal testing, flight/ground testing and data analysis
• In order to be successful in this role, you should be someone who is uniquely creative, self-driven, and is able to lead his or her projects to completion

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Graduate work in numerical methods or heat transfer
• Creative solutions to complex problems
• Experience with successful thermal management strategies
• Experience with cryogenic fluids and fluid analysis software such as Starccm+
• Experience with Siemens Simcenter / Ansys Thermal and Thermal Desktop
• Prior experience with spacecraft design
• Experience working on a launch vehicle or satellite development effort
• Experience in a startup or agile development environment

Additional Information:

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.


To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.  

Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Impulse Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.