Principal Thermal Design Engineer

The role

You will drive detailed thermal design of spacecraft subsystems by running thermal analysis at the component and spacecraft level. You will also explore thermal management strategies and demonstrate them through test campaigns.

What you will do

• Collaborate with Mechanical teams to develop passive and active thermal control hardware including radiators, heaters, heat pipes, and surface coating
• Partner with Avionics teams to develop thermal models and thermal tests for electronic assemblies
• Work with the GNC teams to define and thermally analyze nominal and contingency cases for in-orbit operations
• Develop and maintain thermal models for spacecraft and sub-components using Thermal Desktop and Ansys
• Interface with vendors and launcher providers to translate designs into thermal-related requirements
• Automate data analysis to support architectural trades
• Set up and execute thermal testing ranging from development to qualification

Required qualifications

• 8+ years of experience with satellite thermal design and analysis
• Demonstrated experience with radiative and conductive thermal modeling of spacecraft systems using Thermal Desktop
• Experience with selection, sizing, and design of thermal control hardware including heat pipes, heaters, stickers, OSR, thermal straps, thermal paints, tapes, MLI, TEC
• Experience with thermal cycling and thermal vacuum testing including predictions, setup, instrumentation and thermal model correlation

Nice to have

• Experience with full-vehicle thermal vacuum testing and model correlation
• Experience with spacecraft thermal design optimized for cost, reliability, performance and manufacturability
• Experience with integrated thermal analysis of spacecraft and rocket
• Experience with solar panel thermal modeling
• Experience with electrical PCBA thermal modeling and thermal interface materials (thermal grease, gap pads, etc.)
• Experience with spacecraft primary radiator design and analysis
• Familiarity with SMC-S016 standard or equivalent
• Experience with Python, C/C++, or Matlab for thermal modeling and automated data analysis

Benefits

• Paid time off
• Medical/dental/vision coverage
• Life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Many other perks

Before you apply

• Must be a U.S. person as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license

About the company

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown for missions from LEO to deep space. The company is mass-producing high-power satellite platforms and is a high-growth Series D-funded company.