Thermal Engineering Intern (Aerospace)

Location: Full-time on-site in San Jose, California, United States. The internship runs during the summer, between May and September 2027, depending on the university schedule.

Pay range: $40/hour for Bachelor's students, $45/hour for Master's students, and $50/hour for PhD students.

Company

hirify.global is a startup and end-to-end space systems provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations and spacecraft payloads.

What you will do

• Design, analyze, document, integrate, and test spacecraft thermal control subsystems and components.
• Propose and iterate on improvements to new and existing thermal hardware.
• Plan, write, and monitor thermal tests to characterize hardware performance.
• Conduct thermal analysis supporting spacecraft development and testing.
• Collaborate with thermal, avionics, instrumentation, and spacecraft engineering teams.

Requirements

• Experience with thermal testing and analysis.
• Experience with test planning and execution, presentations, slide decks, and Google Sheets.
• Coursework or relevant experience in thermodynamics, numerical analysis, finite elements, software engineering, or project engineering.
• Portfolio demonstrating thermal design, analysis, integration, and testing work.
• Must be eligible to access U.S. export-controlled information under applicable ITAR/EAR requirements.

Nice to have

• Previous internship, co-op, or technical project team experience.
• Experience with Thermal Desktop.
• Understanding of physics and orbital mechanics.
• Experience with development, component-level, or system-level thermal testing.

Culture & Benefits

• Direct mentorship and hands-on experience in a small, fast-growing startup.
• Opportunity to contribute to next-generation satellite programs and work with experienced aerospace professionals.
• Full-time employees receive equity compensation, medical, dental, and vision insurance, and a 401(k) retirement plan.
• Benefits include paid vacation, paid holidays, unlimited sick time, paid parental leave, disability insurance, and life insurance.
• Equal employment opportunity and reasonable accommodations are available during the application and interview process.