Thermal Engineer (Falcon, Dragon, & Starfall)

The Aero/Thermal/Fluids (ATF) group owns the thermal design of SpaceX's launch vehicles, spacecraft, and hardware for Falcon, Dragon, and Starfall. As a thermal engineer in ATF, you will take hardware from a blank page: setting the thermal architecture, sizing the design, driving it through CAD and build, and validating it against ground test, flight, and on-orbit data. You'll make the engineering calls that keep components within limits across every phase of flight - ascent, on-orbit, reentry, and improve system performance to help us fly more, and more reliably. The group's charter also spans aerothermal and vehicle fluid systems, so there's ample room to broaden into adjacent disciplines, but this role's center of gravity is clean-sheet-to-built-hardware thermal design and analysis.

• →Own the thermal design of spacecraft, launch-vehicle, special-program, and component hardware end-to-end: from initial concept and high-level trades, through detailed 3D and reduced-order modeling, into CAD/build, and out to validation against ground test, flight, and orbital data (e.g. on-orbit thermal analysis, thermal protection system (TPS) sizing, heater and coolant-loop design, acceptance/qualification test-level derivation, issue-ticket resolution)
• →Translate thermal analysis into real design decisions — materials, coatings, insulation, interfaces, heater and TCS architecture — and carry them from concept to flight hardware
• →Automate your workflow to cut engineering investment in the design cycle
• →Pursue performance and robustness improvements in the hardware
• →Pursue operational simplicity and reduce the burden your designs place on other groups at SpaceX
• →Produce quality documentation of your work to reduce miss-rate and improve efficiency
• →Review peer work

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline
• 1+ years of experience using programming languages including, but not limited to, Python, MATLAB, and EES (internships and school projects apply)

• Experience taking hardware from clean-sheet concept through detailed design, build, and test validation
• Experience with Thermal Desktop and ANSYS Workbench
• Experience with 3D and reduced-order thermal modeling
• Ability to identify analysis cases and quickly evaluate the impact of design decisions on the hardware
• Experience sizing TPS using reduced-order modeling
• Experience with the Fully Implicit Ablation and Thermal Analysis Program (FIAT)
• Experience with Sinda/Fluint
• Experience with propulsion and vehicle fluid-system design and analysis
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Ability to deliver against an aggressive schedule
• Fundamentals in aerodynamics and aerothermal analysis; exposure to CFD (FUN3D, DPLR, US3D, LociChem) and mesh generation (Pointwise, StarCCM+)

• Must be available to work extended hours and weekends as needed

• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.  

SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX 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.

Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to EEOCompliance@spacex.com.