LEAD ENGINEER - PRINCIPAL ENGINEER - Avionics Thermal Design Engineer

The Strategic Aerospace Department

The Strategic Aerospace Department within the Defense & Intelligence Solutions Division delivers cutting-edge engineering services to enhance the warfighter’s capabilities across bomber, tanker, and heavy aircraft platforms. We specialize in world-class research, design, and support, providing innovative solutions to modern challenges and legacy systems for the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command, Department of Defense, allied nations, and the U.S. Government, ensuring mission readiness and technological superiority.

Lead Thermal Architecture

• Ensure electronics meet performance and reliability targets across worst-case mission environments (hot ramp, cold soak, high altitude).
• Develop flight-worthy, integratable thermal designs (conduction, convection, liquid/air cooling) that reduce risk, rework, and schedule impacts during integration and test.
• Analyze and validate thermal designs using CFD/FEA, derate components, establish margins, and ensure compliance with customer/airworthiness requirements and program commitments.
• Drive modernization efforts by selecting COTS/MIL-spec components and thermal solutions that improve sustainment, maintainability, and lifecycle cost.
• Mentor teams and set technical standards for thermal design reviews, test readiness, and production transition, accelerating delivery of high-confidence avionics solutions.
• Conduct thermal trade studies for avionics (air/liquid cooling, conduction paths, materials), set margins, and resolve heat/airflow issues with electrical, mechanical, and systems teams.
• Create/update CFD/FEA models, power maps, and derating analyses; document assumptions, sensitivities, and results to support rapid design decisions and integration readiness.
• Support lab bring-up and troubleshooting—instrumentation, data review, root-cause of hot spots, and corrective actions for hardware and packaging changes.
• Plan/execute thermal verification (TVAC/temperature rise, airflow tests), define test procedures, analyze results, and produce compliance evidence for reviews and airworthiness artifacts.
• Participate in design reviews and configuration control—approve drawings/BOM impacts, coordinate suppliers, and mentor engineers on thermal standards, best practices, and lessons learned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering or related engineering degree with directly related experience.
• 11+ years: Expert thermal engineering for avionics: heat transfer, thermal networks, component derating, and margining across flight and ground extremes; strong fundamentals plus practical packaging insight.
• 11+ years: Advanced analysis skills: CFD/FEA (e.g., Flotherm/Icepak/ANSYS), model correlation, uncertainty/sensitivity studies, and turning results into clear design decisions and requirements.
• 11+ years: Requirements-to-results driver: translate customer thermal/performance requirements into actionable design constraints, lead trades to meet SwRI design standards, and deliver verified thermal margin with clear compliance evidence.
• 11+ years: Systems integration skills: partner across EE/ME/SE, manage interfaces and configuration, drive technical reviews, mentor engineers, and communicate effectively with customers and program leadership.
• A valid/clear driver's license is required.

Benefits

• Visit the Defense & Intelligence Solutions home page for more information about this division.
• Click here for benefits information at our San Antonio location.
• Click here for benefits information at all other locations.

Equal Employment Opportunity

An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and veteran status.