Life Support Systems (LSS) Thermal Engineer (Space Systems)

Location: Onsite in Houston, United States, at the Space Station Development Facility (SSDF)

Company

hirify.global develops commercial human spaceflight services, advanced spacesuits, and next-generation orbital infrastructure including Axiom Station.

What you will do

• Define thermal-fluid system standards and practices for space station production and operations.
• Own the design, development, integration, and verification of thermal-fluid hardware for crewed spaceflight.
• Lead design and production reviews with internal teams, suppliers, and customers.
• Perform system sizing, trade studies, architecture decisions, pressure-drop calculations, flow balancing, heat-transfer assessments, and fluid-network modeling.
• Develop and review CAD models, schematics, drawings, procedures, mathematical models, and thermal simulations for all mission phases.
• Support hardware fabrication, assembly, testing, integration, launch preparation, and on-orbit operations while communicating progress and risks to stakeholders.

Requirements

• B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
• 13+ years of experience working on thermal systems or in a similar role.
• Hands-on experience building, testing, assembling, or integrating hardware.
• Experience designing and analyzing heat exchangers, radiators, cold plates, valves, regulators, pumps, lines, manifolds, or related fluid components.
• Strong knowledge of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and space-environment effects including thermal vacuum and regolith considerations.
• Proficiency with NX, Creo, or SolidWorks and Python or equivalent test-analysis tools; export-control screening may be required for access to NASA-, ITAR-, or EAR-controlled technology.

Nice to have

• Experience with flight hardware development and certification.
• Knowledge of NASA or commercial space program standards.
• Experience with CFD, FEA, or thermal tools such as ANSYS Fluent, Star-CCM+, Thermal Desktop, or SINDA/Fluint.
• Experience integrating mechanical and electrical systems, including sensors, harnesses, connectors, and control hardware.

Culture & Benefits

• Mission-driven work focused on commercial human spaceflight and orbital infrastructure.
• Cross-functional collaboration across stress, avionics, manufacturing, suppliers, and customers.
• Work in an office environment with possible indoor or outdoor activities depending on the task.
• Willingness to work evenings and weekends may be required during critical project milestones.
• Work may involve extended sitting or standing and lifting or carrying up to 25 lbs.