Location & Work Arrangement
- Costa Mesa, CA (On-Site) preferred
- Remote opportunities may be considered for exceptionally strong candidates located elsewhere in the U.S.
Employment Details
- Contract: 6 months, with potential for extension or conversion to a permanent position
- Target Bill Rate: Up to $120/hour
Requirements
- Must be a U.S. Citizen
- Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Thermal design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles at conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design maturities
- Define thermal system architectures and material selection strategies for vehicles operating in demanding flight environments
- Thermal analysis of flight vehicles using CFD, FEA, and engineering methods
- Material response modeling under combined thermal and mechanical loads
- Transient thermal analysis for time-varying mission profiles
- Ground test planning, execution, and analysis in specialized thermal test facilities
- Flight test planning, execution, and post-flight thermal data analysis
- Use first principles and MATLAB/Python models to inform design decisions
- Collaborate with aerodynamics, structures, electrical, and systems engineers on integrated solutions
- Present thermal status at formal reviews internally and with customers
- Prepare formal documentation (specifications, test procedures, technical reports)
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- MS or higher degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Applied Physics with focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics
- In-depth understanding of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and high-temperature environments
- 5+ years of experience in aerospace thermal engineering on rocket, aircraft, or missile programs
- Experience with thermal analysis in high-speed flight regimes
- Thermal analysis experience using CFD (STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent) and/or FEA thermal solvers
- Experience with thermal-structural coupling
- Ground testing experience with thermal instrumentation and data acquisition
- Strong programming skills in MATLAB, Python, or similar for tool development
- Experience preparing formal documentation
- CAD experience with SolidWorks or Siemens NX
- Passion for defending the United States and her allies
- Ability to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with material response modeling in extreme thermal environments
- Knowledge of material degradation and surface phenomena under demanding conditions
- Experience with specialized thermal ground test facilities
- Experience with chemical kinetics and finite-rate chemistry modeling
- Flight test experience including instrumentation design and post-flight analysis
- Experience with thermal-structural analysis codes (NASTRAN, Abaqus, ANSYS Mechanical)
- Material characterization experience at elevated temperatures
- Experience with manufacturing and assembly of thermal systems
- Active U.S. security clearance