Principal Thermal Product Engineer (AI Hardware)

Location: Onsite in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States

Salary: $200,000–$260,000 per year

Company

hirify.global is partnering with a well-funded, VC-backed AI networking hardware startup that co-develops customized networking hardware, software, and optics for large-scale AI workloads.

What you will do

• Own productization and manufacturing readiness for cold plates, liquid cooling assemblies, and rack-level cooling infrastructure.
• Partner with design, reliability, manufacturing, supplier, and contract manufacturing teams to transition thermal solutions into volume production.
• Lead thermal qualification, including performance validation, leak testing, burst testing, and long-term reliability assessments.
• Support NPI builds, manufacturing ramps, and factory deployments by resolving technical issues and improving production readiness.
• Define thermal manufacturing processes, test methodologies, and quality standards.
• Evaluate new thermal technologies and manufacturing approaches for future high-density AI infrastructure.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in hardware product engineering, NPI, manufacturing engineering, or thermal systems engineering.
• Experience supporting hardware builds on the manufacturing floor during NPI or mass production.
• Strong expertise in liquid cooling technologies, including cold plate design, manufacturing, qualification, and reliability testing.
• Deep understanding of thermal validation, performance testing, leak testing, burst testing, and environmental qualification.
• Experience collaborating with suppliers, contract manufacturers, and cross-functional engineering teams to deliver products into production.

Nice to have

• Supplier and manufacturing partner auditing experience.
• Knowledge of supplier quality systems, Six Sigma, CPK/PPK metrics, and process capability analysis.
• Experience leading factory acceptance testing and site acceptance testing.
• Familiarity with brazing, CNC machining, forging, and metal fabrication.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on next-generation liquid cooling and AI networking infrastructure.
• Join a rapidly expanding, VC-backed company operating under a joint development model.
• Collaborate directly with suppliers, contract manufacturers, and hyperscaler-focused engineering teams.