Thermal Engineer

Thermal Engineer

Clearance Level: Must be eligible to obtain an Active Secret Clearance - a Top Secret Clearance upgrade will be needed

Work Location: Must live with 100 miles of Lexington MA

At Aquila Technology, you will see our team’s passion every day, whether we are building a robust, policy-compliant IT system or stress-testing a system to identify gaps and security vulnerabilities. To own the advantage, we ensure our team owns results and gets the work done right the first time by deploying smart, purposeful solutions that work. Aquila is the right people with the right skills driving the right outcomes. We call this the Aquila Advantage.

About the Role:

Aquila Technology is seeking a Thermal Engineer to support one of the nation’s premier defense research organizations. The team develops first-of-a-kind prototype systems across underwater, ground, air, and space domains for high-impact national security missions. Engineers work on advanced structural and material systems for space-based imaging and laser communications, thermal management solutions from cryogenic to hypersonic regimes, and aerodynamic design and assessment for unmanned aerial vehicles, airborne pods, and hypersonic platforms. Solutions are realized through the integration of high-fidelity analytical and computational modeling, multidisciplinary simulation, environmental testing, and advanced materials, addressing demanding performance, size, weight, power, and environmental constraints that are at the forefront of current engineering capabilities.

What You Will Bring:
The successful candidate will be part of an interdisciplinary engineering team contributing to the development of operational prototype hardware, spanning the full program life cycle from concept development to on-orbit test. The position may have some infrequent travel to meetings and field sites (probably like 10% of the time or less - domestic travel only).

End-to-end development and execution of geometry-based thermal models, identifying and applying appropriate thermo-physical and optical material properties, modeling critical mechanical, thermal, and radiative interfaces, applying representative dissipative heat loads, and executing steady-state and transient thermal analyses to ensure compliance with safe operating temperature limits and mission requirements.

Provide thermal technical expertise to system-level trade studies and design reviews, supporting decision-making related to the overall system architecture and associated thermal management concepts and approaches. Evaluate, select, and procure thermal control hardware, and develop and execute plans for developmental, qualification, and acceptance testing.

Carry out system-level and detailed component-level thermal design, analysis, and testing on a variety of space-qualified optical and communication systems, as well as their supporting electronics and structures. Projects span platform-, subsystem-, and component-level efforts across multiple programs and mission phases.

Must Have
Degree Level: Bachelor's Degree
5 years - Thermal Analysis
5 years - Thermal Desktop
5 years - Thermal Engineering
5 years - Solidworks
Nice to Have

• Degree Level: Masters Degree
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Thermal vacuum test design and execution
• Ansys
• COMSOL

Required Skills:

• Expertise in commercial thermal analysis software (Thermal Desktop required; in addition, COMSOL and/or Ansys desired) and CAD software (Solidworks) is required.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with thermal engineering for space and airborne platforms is preferred, including orbit-based thermal analyses and an understanding of passive and active thermal control techniques, including heat pipes, multilayer insulation (MLI), thermal coatings, and surface treatments.
• Significant experience with developing thermal architectures for space based systems, including a background with modeling and simulation of the space environment, orbital analysis, as well as hardware characterization testing is desired.

Clearance Level: The worker can start with an interim clearance but will need to clear up to Top Secret after starting. - Must be US Citizen

Work Location: Work schedule will be 4 days onsite and one day remote.

Interview Process: Interviews will be three rounds: Initial screening, a Zoom call with 1-2 managers and an onsite final interview. The team will consider a third zoom round if the candidate is not local at the time of the interview. Any non-local candidate would need to fully relocate at the start of the position to be considered.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.