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Anduril

Builds autonomous weapons for the US and allies

Thermal Design Engineer

Thermal & Fluids EngineeringConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeCosta Mesa, CA, USAIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

  • A Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field, focused on heat transfer, fluid dynamics, thermal sciences, or thermal systems.
  • A strong first-principles understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics, including conduction, convection, radiation, fluid flow, and transient thermal behavior.
  • Coursework, research, or internship experience in thermal analysis, modeling, or testing.
  • Experience with MATLAB, Python, or similar tools for engineering analysis.
  • Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to cross-functional teams.
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

  • Support thermal design and analysis for integrated hardware products, including drones, aircraft, missiles, or related defense systems.
  • Apply first-principles engineering judgment using hand calculations, spreadsheets, and MATLAB or Python models to inform design decisions.
  • Build and maintain thermal finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics models to predict system performance and establish design limits.
  • Support prototype builds and thermal tests, including sensor selection, data acquisition setup, data post-processing, and results documentation.
  • Contribute to defining thermal architectures for rugged environments, demanding flight envelopes, and mission-specific thermal conditions.
  • Partner with electrical, mechanical, aerospace, and systems engineers to document power dissipation, operating modes, and thermal constraints.
  • Present thermal analysis results and recommendations in internal design reviews.
  • Develop internal tools, workflows, or analysis methods that improve the speed and quality of thermal decision-making.

Desired Qualifications

  • 1–3 years of industry experience in thermal engineering for aerospace, defense, or high-performance hardware systems.
  • Experience with thermal analysis tools such as STAR-CCM+, ANSYS, Icepak, Flotherm, or comparable finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics platforms.
  • Experience with computer-aided design tools such as SolidWorks or Siemens NX.
  • Graduate research in thermal-fluid systems, electronics cooling, aerothermal analysis, or related areas.
  • Exposure to thermal testing, including instrumentation, data acquisition, and test-to-model correlation.

About the Company

Anduril

Builds autonomous weapons for the US and allies

Anduril builds autonomous weapons, such as drones, cruise missiles, and robot submarines, for the US military and its allies, often developing them with its own money before any order arrives. In 2024 it beat Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman for an Air Force contract to develop Fury, a pilotless jet that flies alongside crewed fighters. Its Lattice software merges camera and radar feeds into one live map and lets a few operators direct many drones and weapons at once, including other companies' systems. Governments buy its systems under contract, and Anduril builds much of the hardware in its own factories. Oculus founder Palmer Luckey co-founded Anduril in 2017, and it is based in Costa Mesa, California.

Company size
10,001+
Company stage
Private
Total funding
$11.5B
Headquarters
Costa Mesa, CA
Founded
2017

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