Thermal Engineer
Impulse Space
USD 95k-115k / year + Equity
Posted on Apr 15, 2025
As a Thermal Engineer at Impulse, you will be responsible for thermal management of spacecraft from concept, analysis, and design, to implementation, testing, and flight while working closely with a fast-paced, agile team that strives to make a high-performance spacecraft from a clean sheet design.
- Department
- Vehicle Engineering
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Location
- Redondo Beach
- Workplace type
- Onsite
- Compensation
- $95,000 - $115,000 / year
- Reporting To
Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain thermal models of spacecraft, systems, and components
- Determine appropriate physical properties, environments, and boundary conditions
- Select and design of thermal management hardware
- Oversee and define thermal cycle and vacuum testing of components and spacecraft
- Analyze test data to correlate models and improve model fidelity
- Collaborate with design engineers to implement effective thermal management strategies
- Communicate with suppliers to determine properties and specify requirements of materials
- Thoroughly document analyses and designs including instructions for implementation
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering
- 1+ years' of demonstrated experience in developing and maintaining thermal models of spacecraft, systems, components, etc.
- 1+ years' of demonstrated experience in selection/design and implementation of thermal management hardware such as heat pipes, radiators, heaters, thermal paint, tape and MLI
- Ability to perform thermal testing, flight/ground testing and data analysis
- In order to be successful in this role, you should be someone who is uniquely creative, self-driven, and is able to lead his or her projects to completion
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Graduate work in numerical methods or heat transfer
- Creative solutions to complex problems
- Experience with successful thermal management strategies
- Experience with cryogenic fluids and fluid analysis software such as Starccm+
- Experience with Siemens Simcenter / Ansys Thermal and Thermal Desktop
- Prior experience with spacecraft design
- Experience working on a launch vehicle or satellite development effort
- Experience in a startup or agile development environment
Additional Information:
Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Impulse Space 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.
About Impulse Space
Impulse Space, the in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, is opening access beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with its fleet of in-space transportation vehicles. The high-energy Helios vehicle unlocks orbits beyond LEO with its powerful Deneb engine, dropping off payloads in MEO, GEO, heliocentric, lunar, and other planetary orbits. The flight-proven Mira vehicle uses a nontoxic, high-impulse chemical propulsion system to offer orbital transport, constellation deployment, and precision reentry services to customers throughout LEO. Led by a team that delivered the most reliable rockets in history, Impulse provides economical and efficient in-space transportation by reliably and rapidly getting customers where they want to go.
Our Hiring Process
Stage 1:
Application Received
Stage 2:
Resume Review
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