Staff Engineer, Aircraft Thermal Systems (RX) (R6002)

The role

You will own thermal analysis, design and vehicle integration for a Group 5 UAV fighter aircraft. You will model heat transfer, design cooling solutions, and deliver thermal hardware through qualification testing.

What you will do

• Define and mature aircraft-level thermal environments and thermal management solutions for vehicle bays and hot surfaces.
• Perform first-principles heat transfer and fluid calculations, and develop analytical, finite-difference and CFD models.
• Design and evaluate active and passive cooling solutions, including heat-rejection paths, airflow, ducting and thermal interfaces.
• Generate thermal requirements, assess technical risks and recommend designs that balance thermal performance with power, mass, volume and integration constraints.
• Develop thermal hardware layouts and CAD models, and resolve interfaces with structures, avionics, fluid systems and EWIS.
• Define qualification and verification test plans, design test rigs, and correlate analytical and computational models with test data.
• Author technical specifications and statements of work for thermal hardware, evaluate suppliers, and drive supplier execution through prototype build and test.
• Define and execute qualification test plans per MIL-STD-810, and support MIL-HDBK-516 Airworthiness Certification.
• Communicate thermal findings through design reviews and technical reports, and guide cross-disciplinary teams.

Required qualifications

• Clearance: US Citizens only, with an Active Secret or higher clearance.
• 7 to 12 years of direct experience in aerospace thermal engineering, environmental control systems, or vehicle thermal and fluid system development.
• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Deep mastery of thermodynamics, heat transfer and fluid dynamics applied to aircraft or defense systems.
• Demonstrated capability with first-principles hand calculations, finite-difference methods, and CFD or thermal-analysis tools such as FloEFD, STAR-CCM+, Thermal Desktop, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated ability to design active and passive cooling solutions for aircraft bays, engine bays, hot surfaces, or comparable installations.
• Experience in 3D CAD modeling and drawing release with Siemens NX, CATIA, Creo, SolidWorks, or equivalent PLM workflows.
• Proven track record sourcing COTS or custom aerospace components, driving suppliers to schedule, and assembling benchtop or vehicle-level test setups.
• Demonstrated ability to self-direct, prioritize technical tasks without oversight, and deliver functional hardware under tight timelines.

Nice to have

• Experience with high-altitude aircraft thermal management, analysis and design.
• Hands-on experience with thermal and fluid system testing, instrumentation, data acquisition and validation.
• Knowledge of materials and manufacturing methods relevant to aerospace thermal management.
• Background in multi-disciplinary system integration spanning avionics, fluid systems and systems engineering.
• Familiarity with MIL-STD-810, MIL-HDBK-310, RTCA DO-160, and SAE AIR or ARP standards.

Benefits

• Bonus
• Equity (full-time regular employees)
• Benefits (full-time regular employees)
• Temporary benefits package (temporary employees, applicable after 60 days of employment)

Before you apply

• US citizenship is required.
• An Active Secret or higher clearance is required.
• All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check.
• Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits.

About the company

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company that builds intelligent systems to protect service members and civilians. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation technologies.