Staff Engineer, Thermal Engineering (R6172)

Dallas · USD 140,000-210,000 / year · Onsite · Posted Oct 3, 2026

At a glance

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Engineer for Thermal Engineering (R6172) in Dallas to serve as technical owner and authority for avionics thermal management across V-BAT.
The role spans from concept through design, analysis, qualification, and production.

Serve as technical owner and authority for avionics thermal management across V-BAT, from concept through design, analysis, qualification, and production.
Define avionics thermal architecture, derive thermal requirements, and establish thermal environments and interface requirements for avionics bays, enclosures, and components.
Develop, review, and approve analytical, numerical, and computational heat transfer and fluid flow models using hand calculations and CFD tools such as FloEFD.
Lead trade studies, system architecture decisions, and risk assessments, balancing thermal performance against power, weight, volume, cost, maintainability, and schedule.
Define qualification and verification strategy, lead test planning, instrumentation, and data analysis, and correlate models with test data.
Influence electrical and PCBA design direction early, including component placement, power dissipation budgets, and thermal design rules.
Author thermal specifications and statements of work, and evaluate suppliers while providing technical direction for thermal hardware.
Lead thermal content at design reviews and produce clear, traceable technical reports and analysis records.
Mentor and develop junior and senior engineers, review their analyses and test plans, and guide cross-disciplinary teams.
Identify program-level thermal risks early, propose mitigations, and drive them to closure.

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
Minimum 8 years of professional experience in avionics or electronics thermal engineering, including technical ownership of thermal solutions carried through qualification and into production.
Expert knowledge of heat transfer and fluid mechanics, with the ability to validate complex models using first-principles calculations.
Proven experience defining and integrating active and passive cooling solutions at component, subsystem, and system level.
In-depth knowledge of thermal management design elements, including TIMs, spreaders, heat sinks, cold plates, vapor chambers, heat pipes, and fans.
Advanced proficiency with thermal analysis and CFD tools (e.g., ANSYS Icepak, FloEFD, STAR-CCM+).
Experience with CAD design tools such as NX, SolidWorks, or similar, and with PLM-controlled design release.
Demonstrated experience planning and executing thermal qualification and verification testing, including instrumentation and data acquisition.
Track record of technical leadership including leading trade studies, presenting at design reviews, and influencing cross-functional design decisions.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

M.S. in a relevant engineering discipline.
Experience with high-altitude aircraft avionics cooling and thermal design.
Experience with aerospace environmental and airworthiness requirements, including MIL-STD-810, MIL-HDBK-310, RTCA DO-160, and MIL-HDBK-516.
In-depth knowledge of aircraft integration constraints (power, weight, volume, maintainability, safety).
Knowledge of materials and manufacturing methods relevant to thermal management, including machined, cast, additively manufactured, and bonded thermal hardware.
Experience with transient and duty-cycle thermal analysis, and with system-level thermal budgets across multiple avionics units.
Experience with supplier development and technical oversight of thermal hardware suppliers.