Thermal Test Engineer (Aerospace/Defense)

Location: Huntington Beach, California, United States; onsite testing and travel to external test facilities or customer sites may be required.

Salary: $115,000–$150,000 for Engineer; $155,000–$195,000 for Senior Engineer, annually.

Company

hirify.global is a rapidly growing defense technology startup developing autonomous defense platforms and scalable manufacturing systems.

What you will do

• Develop and execute thermal and environmental test plans for aerospace and defense components, subsystems, and integrated systems.
• Create test procedures, requirements, instrumentation plans, configurations, and readiness documentation.
• Conduct thermal cycling, thermal vacuum, thermal soak, temperature and humidity, and other qualification tests.
• Configure environmental chambers and install, calibrate, and verify thermocouples, RTDs, pressure sensors, heat flux sensors, and data acquisition systems.
• Collect and analyze test data, troubleshoot anomalies, support root-cause investigations, and validate thermal models.
• Prepare test reports, maintain test records, support engineering reviews, and coordinate with internal teams, suppliers, test facilities, and customers.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, engineering physics, or a related discipline.
• At least 2 years of experience in thermal testing, environmental testing, test engineering, or related aerospace and defense engineering.
• Hands-on experience developing and executing test procedures with thermal or thermal vacuum chambers.
• Experience with thermal cycling, thermal soak, temperature testing, instrumentation, data acquisition, and engineering test-data analysis.
• Strong technical documentation, troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, collaboration, and safety skills.
• Must be able to meet applicable U.S. export-control requirements and obtain and maintain required security clearance if applicable.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree and 5+ years of aerospace, defense, space, aviation, or high-reliability product testing experience.
• Experience with aerospace and military standards such as MIL-STD-810, RTCA DO-160, NASA/GSFC standards, or SMC-S-016.
• Experience with LabVIEW, NI DAQ/PXI, MATLAB, Python, ANSYS, Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT, or COMSOL.
• Experience with automated test systems, thermal modeling, test fixtures, measurement uncertainty, or formal root-cause methods.

Culture & Benefits

• Startup environment focused on rapid innovation, advanced manufacturing, and national security.
• Performance-based incentives and equity participation.
• Healthcare, dental, vision, retirement savings, and paid time off.
• Funding for continuing education, training, and professional development.
• Extended hours and weekends may be required as needed.