Mechanical Architect & Design Lead, AI Hardware

What You'll Do

• Architectural Design Lead: Define and evolve the overall mechanical architecture of the orbital data center module, including structures, deployables, and thermal interfaces
• Trajectory Control Strategy: Collaborate with thermal team to architect advanced thermal systems (liquid cooling, loop heat pipes, radiator arrays) to reject terawatts of heat into deep space in a vacuum environment where convective cooling is absent
• High-Density Integration: Design high-density server rack layouts tailored for AI workloads, optimizing for both power efficiency and structural integrity during launch, maximizing compute capacity in a constrained volume
• Environmental Survivability: Develop and oversee radiation shielding and thermoelastic structural analyses (FEA/CFD) to ensure hardware reliability in harsh space environments, managing thermo-mechanical interfaces
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborate with electrical power, software, and orbital dynamics teams to create integrated systems, ensuring seamless communication between internal teams and external launch/aerospace vendors
• Validation & Testing: Lead on-orbit verification planning and oversee ground-based environmental qualification testing (thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC), vibration, and shock testing)

What You'll Bring

• Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of experience in thermal-mechanical design, with 2+ years focused on satellite structural/thermal design or advanced high-density terrestrial data center cooling
• Expertise in CAD (e.g., NX, CATIA, SolidWorks) and FEA/CFD simulation tools (e.g., ANSYS, NASTRAN) for space environments
• Strong understanding of launch vehicle requirements and space-rated material selection
• Ability to work on-site at Tesla’s Palo Alto office, contributing to a fast-paced, collaborative environment

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Medical plans
• Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans
• HSA Contribution
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Employee Stock Purchase Plans
• Other financial benefits
• Basic Life, AD&D Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Sick and Vacation time
• Paid Holidays
• Commuter benefits
• Employee discounts and perks program

Expected Compensation

$160,000 - $414,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits