Senior Thermal Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: Onsite in Long Beach, California, United States

Salary: $147,600–$209,520 USD annually

Company

hirify.global develops next-generation commercial space stations and spacecraft to support long-term human presence, microgravity research, manufacturing, and the emerging space economy.

What you will do

• Define the thermal control architecture for a 15kW constellation-ready spacecraft bus, including passive systems, heat pipes, pumped fluid loops, radiators, and placement.
• Own system- and component-level thermal analysis across multiple payload configurations and orbital conditions.
• Develop first-order thermal models and maintain the detailed system thermal model for spacecraft design, simulation, and digital-twin tools.
• Manage thermal budgets, component temperature limits, thermal coatings, materials, emissivity controls, and temperature sensors.
• Plan and execute TVAC test campaigns, including chamber requirements, test profiles, and success criteria.
• Correlate thermal models with environmental test data and support solar array and avionics thermal design.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 6+ years of spacecraft or aerospace thermal engineering experience.
• Experience designing and analyzing passive and active spacecraft thermal control systems.
• Experience building and correlating thermal models for flight hardware and addressing high-power or high-dissipation thermal challenges.
• Familiarity with thermal coatings, MLI, radiators, heat pipes, and thermal straps.
• Experience planning and executing TVAC tests, plus proficiency with multiple thermal analysis tools such as Thermal Desktop, SINDA, or ESATAN.

Nice to have

• Ability to obtain a security clearance.
• Experience with multi-satellite builds requiring consistent thermal design across units.
• High-power-density, variable-duty-cycle payload, cryogenic, or specialized thermal control experience.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time exempt employment with company equity.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents.
• Paid time off, parental leave, disability insurance, life insurance, and access to a 401(k) plan.
• Onsite meals, snacks, coffee, drinks, barista service, and subsidized lunch.
• U.S. export control compliance requires U.S.-person status or eligibility for deemed export licensing.