Thermal Engineer (Mountain View)
Harvey Nash, Mountain View, CA, United States
Position: Staff Battery Thermal Engineer
Location: Mountain View CA
Type: 12- Months Contract - Extendable
We are seeking a
Battery Thermal Engineer
to join the Energy Storage and Power Systems (ESPS) team. This role requires a deep-rooted expertise in
thermal-fluids engineering , applied specifically to the challenges of high-performance battery systems.
As a thermal engineer, you will lead thermal-fluid aspects of battery, propulsion and aircraft design. You will balance a heavy analytical workload—utilizing both 1D and 3D simulation tools—with a practical understanding of thermal hardware, system integration, and aerospace safety. Your goal is to ensure that our battery systems are safe, efficient, and fully optimized for the demanding requirements of an eVTOL aircraft.
In This Role, you will:
Lead the modeling of complex heat transfer and fluid flow phenomena at the cell, module, and system levels using a right-tool-for-the-job approach, spanning hand calculations, 0D/1D system models and 3D CFD/FEA.
Perform rigorous simulations of thermal runaway, propagation, and venting, ensuring that safety-critical thermal management strategies are backed by physics-based data.
Design and analyze thermal-fluid architectures, including cooling and venting systems, for the aircraft and test rigs.
Drive optimization of component design to ensure safety, maximize thermal performance and reduce weight, including D/FMEA efforts.
Define thermal test requirements and instrumentation strategies (thermocouples, heat flux sensors, flow meters) to validate analytical models against experimental data.
Translate thermal requirements into mechanical designs for cold plates, thermal interface materials (TIMs), fluid system components like pumps and valves, thermal barriers and gas venting elements.
What you will do:
As part of the ESPS organization, you will act as a Battery Thermal Engineer supporting the design, validation and certification of advanced battery and thermal management systems for eVTOL aircraft.
You will serve as a subject matter expert for heat transfer and fluid mechanics, providing analytical support to battery, mechanical, and power electronics teams.
You will perform sensitivity analyses to trade off thermal performance against mass, power consumption, and complexity.
You will develop thermal architectures for battery thermal management and safety systems.
You will run multi-physics and multi-fidelity simulations to optimally size thermal components of the battery and aircraft.
You will use analytical methods to identify root causes for thermal bottlenecks, cooling inefficiencies, or hardware test failures.
You will define technical specifications and statements of work (SOW) for fluid system components, overseeing the analytical validation of supplier-provided hardware.
You will generate high-quality technical reports and data packages to prove compliance with aviation safety standards and regulatory requirements.
Requirements
B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or Thermal Sciences.
5+ years experience in thermal engineering, with a strong focus on battery systems in the aerospace, automotive, or energy storage sectors.
Advanced knowledge of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics.
Working understanding of battery systems, associated cooling technologies, and thermal safety testing.
Expert proficiency in 3D CFD (ANSYS Fluent, STAR-CCM+) and 1D system tools (Amesim, Simscape, Flomaster, or GT-SUITE).
Experience designing and specifying pumps, valves, heat exchangers, and reservoirs.
Applied experience in liquid cooling, phase-change materials, and thermal runaway mitigation.
Proficiency in CAD (NX preferred) and data analysis tools (MATLAB or Python) for processing experimental results.
Strong organizational and documentation skills, with attention to detail and accuracy.
Familiarity with aviation battery safety standards and environmental testing methodologies.
Ability to distill complex thermal-fluid physics into clear, actionable design recommendations for cross-functional teams.
Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with test engineers, technicians, and design teams.
Location: Mountain View CA
Type: 12- Months Contract - Extendable
We are seeking a
Battery Thermal Engineer
to join the Energy Storage and Power Systems (ESPS) team. This role requires a deep-rooted expertise in
thermal-fluids engineering , applied specifically to the challenges of high-performance battery systems.
As a thermal engineer, you will lead thermal-fluid aspects of battery, propulsion and aircraft design. You will balance a heavy analytical workload—utilizing both 1D and 3D simulation tools—with a practical understanding of thermal hardware, system integration, and aerospace safety. Your goal is to ensure that our battery systems are safe, efficient, and fully optimized for the demanding requirements of an eVTOL aircraft.
In This Role, you will:
Lead the modeling of complex heat transfer and fluid flow phenomena at the cell, module, and system levels using a right-tool-for-the-job approach, spanning hand calculations, 0D/1D system models and 3D CFD/FEA.
Perform rigorous simulations of thermal runaway, propagation, and venting, ensuring that safety-critical thermal management strategies are backed by physics-based data.
Design and analyze thermal-fluid architectures, including cooling and venting systems, for the aircraft and test rigs.
Drive optimization of component design to ensure safety, maximize thermal performance and reduce weight, including D/FMEA efforts.
Define thermal test requirements and instrumentation strategies (thermocouples, heat flux sensors, flow meters) to validate analytical models against experimental data.
Translate thermal requirements into mechanical designs for cold plates, thermal interface materials (TIMs), fluid system components like pumps and valves, thermal barriers and gas venting elements.
What you will do:
As part of the ESPS organization, you will act as a Battery Thermal Engineer supporting the design, validation and certification of advanced battery and thermal management systems for eVTOL aircraft.
You will serve as a subject matter expert for heat transfer and fluid mechanics, providing analytical support to battery, mechanical, and power electronics teams.
You will perform sensitivity analyses to trade off thermal performance against mass, power consumption, and complexity.
You will develop thermal architectures for battery thermal management and safety systems.
You will run multi-physics and multi-fidelity simulations to optimally size thermal components of the battery and aircraft.
You will use analytical methods to identify root causes for thermal bottlenecks, cooling inefficiencies, or hardware test failures.
You will define technical specifications and statements of work (SOW) for fluid system components, overseeing the analytical validation of supplier-provided hardware.
You will generate high-quality technical reports and data packages to prove compliance with aviation safety standards and regulatory requirements.
Requirements
B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or Thermal Sciences.
5+ years experience in thermal engineering, with a strong focus on battery systems in the aerospace, automotive, or energy storage sectors.
Advanced knowledge of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics.
Working understanding of battery systems, associated cooling technologies, and thermal safety testing.
Expert proficiency in 3D CFD (ANSYS Fluent, STAR-CCM+) and 1D system tools (Amesim, Simscape, Flomaster, or GT-SUITE).
Experience designing and specifying pumps, valves, heat exchangers, and reservoirs.
Applied experience in liquid cooling, phase-change materials, and thermal runaway mitigation.
Proficiency in CAD (NX preferred) and data analysis tools (MATLAB or Python) for processing experimental results.
Strong organizational and documentation skills, with attention to detail and accuracy.
Familiarity with aviation battery safety standards and environmental testing methodologies.
Ability to distill complex thermal-fluid physics into clear, actionable design recommendations for cross-functional teams.
Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with test engineers, technicians, and design teams.