# Staff Engineer, Thermal - Air Vehicle

**Company**: Shield AI
**Location**: United States
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: staff
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $140,000-210,000 per year
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/bbc92590-2f3e-467c-8ffc-c2efd0e8b98a
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_b3452d46-a13

## Description

Are you a passionate and innovative thermal engineer looking to help develop the next generation VTOL strike aircraft? Shield AI is just the place for you! As a Staff Aircraft Thermal Engineer you will solve many of the most challenging thermal problems on the XBAT aircraft program, including hot exhaust gas management and aircraft-level thermal environments and characterization and more.

_tpYou will shape designs, guide engineering peers in thermal disciplines, and deliver robust thermal solutions that meet mission-critical aerospace requirements.

Responsibilities:

- Execute thermal analysis and characterization efforts for unmanned aerial vehicle aircraft-level thermal systems.

- Architect and validate analytical, numerical, and computational models for heat transfer and fluid flow using hand calculations, finite difference methods, and CFD tools such as FloEFD.

- Execute trade studies, make system architecture decisions, own requirements generation, and make technical risk assessments.

- Define and oversee test planning, instrumentation, and data analysis to correlate models with experimental results.

- Mentor and guide cross-disciplinary teams in applying thermal/fluid fundamentals.

- Communicate technical findings through design reviews and technical reports.

- Proactively identify thermal risks, propose solutions, and influence aircraft thermal design.

Qualifications:

- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline.

- Minimum 7 years of professional experience in thermal engineering.

- Deep expertise in heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation) and fluid mechanics.

- Advanced understanding of active and passive cooling solutions.

- Knowledge of thermal management techniques for aircraft bays, engine bays, and hot surfaces.

- Proficiency with thermal analysis and CFD tools (e.g., FloEFD, STAR-CCM+, Thermal Desktop).

- Proficiency with CAD design tools such as NX, SolidWorks, or similar.

- Demonstrated ability to apply first-principles reasoning to complex engineering problems.

- Strong communication and leadership skills.

- Demonstrated record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others

## Skills

### Required
- heat transfer
- fluid mechanics
- thermal analysis
- CFD tools
- CAD design tools
- first-principles reasoning
- communication
- leadership