Thermal Control System (TCS) Design Engineer

TL;DR

Thermal Control System (TCS) Design Engineer (Aerospace): Design active and passive thermal control systems for high-power satellites using heat transfer and mechanical equations to size pumps, accumulators, cold plates, and fluid loops. Focus on planning thermal cycle and TVAC testing campaigns, developing data acquisition systems, and troubleshooting test setups for reliable verification.

Location: Los Angeles, CA. U.S. Person required (ITAR compliance).

Salary: $100,000 - $140,000 + equity

Company

Building the largest and highest-power satellites for missions from LEO to deep space, backed by $450M from leading investors with $500M in contracts.

What you will do

• Design and develop heater and cooling systems including control architecture for spacecraft thermal control.
• Plan and execute thermal cycle and thermal-vacuum testing campaigns.
• Setup, commission, and maintain test stands, instrumentation, and data acquisition systems.
• Perform tests on pump fluid loops, feed systems, power electronics, and hardware-in-the-loop.
• Develop testing and control scripts, formal documentation, and analyze test data.
• Troubleshoot electrical and mechanical setups and partner with design engineers for manufacturability and production transition.

Requirements

• 3+ years of thermal test experience in high-rate manufacturing environment.
• 2+ years sizing and testing fluid systems including pumps, valves, accumulators, heat exchangers, cold plates.
• Demonstrated experience with data acquisition for thermal and power applications.
• Experience with test plan development, execution, thermal and TVAC testing, setup, instrumentation, troubleshooting.
• Experience with basic and statistical data analysis.
• U.S. Person as defined by ITAR (U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or protected individual).

Nice to have

• Demonstrated knowledge of NX or AutoCAD for test fixtures.
• Experience with Thermal Desktop for thermal analysis.
• Experience with signal conditioning, pumps testing, avionics testing, refrigeration systems.

Culture & Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits: paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave.
• Equity in the company.
• Fast-paced Series C space startup environment encouraging non-traditional career paths.
• Thrive in high-impact roles contributing to groundbreaking satellite development.