Thermal Design Engineer

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own thermal design and analysis across the robot including arms, end effectors, and on-board compute from concept through volume production.
• Develop thermal architectures for high-torque-density actuators (motors, gearboxes, drives) in joints, where heat dissipation is the limiting factor on continuous performance.
• Design cooling solutions for end effectors within tight volume, mass, and cable-routing constraints.
• Develop thermal management for on-board compute (CPUs, GPUs, custom accelerators, power electronics), including airflow, heat sinks, heat pipes, vapor chambers, TIMs, and active cooling where needed.
• Build thermal models (analytical, CFD, FEA) and validate them with hands-on testing (thermocouple instrumentation, IR imaging, calorimetry, and accelerated stress tests)
• Specify and select thermal components (TIMs, fans, heat pipes, heat sinks, blowers, phase-change materials) and own supplier relationships.
• Define thermal limits, derating curves, and protection logic in collaboration with electrical, firmware, and controls teams.
• Contribute to DFM/DFA so thermal solutions scale from low-volume prototypes to high-volume production.
• Develop accelerated test plans to validate thermal performance over the product's lifetime, including environmental and duty-cycle stress.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ years of experience (or equivalent "hard tech" projects) designing and validating thermal solutions for complex electromechanical systems.
• Strong fundamentals in conduction, convection, and radiation, plus working knowledge of two-phase cooling and heat-pipe / vapor-chamber design.
• Hands-on experience with CFD tools (Ansys Icepak, Flotherm, SolidWorks Flow Simulation, or similar) and thermal FEA.
• Track record solving thermal problems in at least one of: high-torque-density motors / actuators, dense power electronics, or compute (CPU / GPU / custom accelerator).
• Comfortable instrumenting, testing, and debugging thermal performance on real hardware
• Experience designing for volume processes (extrusion, die casting, brazing, stamping) and working with thermal component suppliers and contract manufacturers.
• High proficiency in SolidWorks, Catia, or similar CAD tools.
• Hands-on problem-solving approach with the ability to iterate quickly.
• You are comfortable with ambiguity, move fast, and have an "engineering curiosity" that drives you to understand how the entire system works, not just your part.

BONUS

• Experience in robotics, prosthetics, EV powertrains, drones, or other dense electromechanical systems.
• Familiarity with motor / actuator thermal modeling (winding hot-spot estimation, lumped-parameter networks).
• Experience with liquid cooling or hybrid air / liquid systems.
• PhD or research experience in thermal sciences.