Principal Thermal Engineer - Aircraft Avionics & Thermal Systems (R3930)

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems.

As a Principal Thermal Engineer at Shield AI, you will own the technical direction, architecture, and development of aircraft avionics thermal management systems, with scope spanning aircraft-level thermal and fluid systems.

Responsibilities:

• Own thermal architecture, analysis, and design strategy for unmanned aerial vehicle avionics and aircraft-level thermal/fluid systems across programs.
• Lead cross-functional trade studies and technical decisions, balancing thermal performance with power, weight, volume, reliability, manufacturability, and aircraft integration constraints.
• Develop and validate analytical, numerical, and computational models for heat transfer and fluid flow using hand calculations and CFD tools such as FloEFD, and establish modeling standards and best practices.
• Define verification and validation strategies, guiding test planning, instrumentation, and data analysis to correlate models with experimental results and resolve critical performance risks.
• Serve as a technical authority in executive-level briefings, design reviews, and customer discussions, communicating complex findings and driving alignment on technical direction.
• Proactively identify and retire system-level risks, influence electrical and/or PCBA design direction, and drive resolution of complex interfaces across avionics, mechanical, and aircraft systems.
• Establish reusable thermal design methods and solutions, mentor engineers, and strengthen thermal engineering capabilities across the organization.

Required qualifications:

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline.
• Minimum 12 years of professional experience in avionics or electronics thermal engineering, including technical leadership of complex, multidisciplinary systems.
• Strong expertise in heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation) and fluid mechanics, with demonstrated ability to apply this expertise to system architecture and critical design decisions.
• Deep understanding of active and passive cooling solutions and their integration at component, subsystem, and aircraft level.
• Deep understanding of thermal management design elements including TIMs, spreaders, heat sinks, vapor chambers, heat pipes, and fans.
• Proficiency with thermal analysis and CFD tools (e.g., ANSYS Icepak, FloEFD, STAR-CCM+), including experience establishing modeling approaches and evaluating analysis quality.
• Proficiency with CAD design tools such as NX, SolidWorks, or similar.
• Demonstrated experience applying first-principles reasoning to complex engineering problems and resolving ambiguous technical challenges with significant system-level impact.
• Proven track record of owning thermal architecture and delivering thermal management solutions from concept through integration, verification, and validation.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with a track record of influencing cross-functional technical decisions and presenting to executive stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers, establish engineering best practices, and lead technical efforts across teams or programs.
• Proven ability to learn and adapt quickly to new tools, processes, and technical challenges in a fast-paced, startup environment.
• Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.

Preferred qualifications:

• M.S. or Ph.D. in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Experience leading high-altitude aircraft avionics cooling and thermal design.
• Experience defining thermal architectures within aircraft integration constraints (power, weight, volume, maintainability, safety).
• Hands-on experience developing thermal and fluid system test strategies and guiding instrumentation, validation, and root-cause investigations.
• Knowledge of materials and manufacturing methods relevant to thermal management (pumps, heat exchangers, composites, etc.).
• Experience leading trade studies, shaping proposals, and serving as a technical representative in customer interactions on aerospace or defense programs.