Thermal Engineer
US$100,500 – US$232,500 / yr base salary
Posted 12 Oct 2026
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Management level
- Individual contributor
- Employment
- Hybrid
- Visa sponsorship
- Offered
| Base salary | US$100,500 – US$232,500 / yr |
|---|
Field of studyChemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering (or related)
Study levelBachelor's or higher
Product Creation and Industrialization (PC&I) brings together Ford’s vehicle, electric, digital and design teams with our global manufacturing system. Working as one end-to-end organization, we turn ideas into high-quality vehicles, software and experiences across gas, hybrid and electric, designed around what customers need.
Responsibilities
What you'll do...
- Support thermal-system modeling and development for battery, drive unit, and powertrain products.
- Build and use reduced-order thermal/fluid models to support system and component decisions.
- Assist with thermal component and subsystem feasibility studies.
- Support prototype builds, test setup, instrumentation, and data acquisition.
- Analyze test data and compare measured performance against model predictions.
- Develop and support validation plans, test methods, and technical summaries.
- Document model assumptions, specifications, design updates, test results, and validation findings.
- Work with test engineers and subject matter experts to understand correlation between predicted and measured results.
- Collaborate with controls, electrical, software, manufacturing, validation, and supplier teams to resolve technical issues.
- Support continuous improvement of thermal models, tools, workflows, and development methodologies.
- Help identify opportunities to improve thermal performance, system efficiency, manufacturability, cost, and reliability.
Qualifications
You'll have...
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical field or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
- Strong fundamentals in heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics.
- Coursework, internship, research, or project experience with thermal systems.
- MATLAB and/or Python experience for data analysis, modeling, or automation.
- Familiarity with thermal components such as heat exchangers, compressors, pumps, fans, cold plates, coolant loops, or refrigerant systems.
- Ability to analyze data, document results, and communicate findings clearly.
- Strong teamwork, communication, self-motivation, and ability to manage multiple tasks.
- A first-principles approach to engineering problem solving.
- Curiosity and eagerness to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, cross-functional EV development environment.
Even better, you may have...
- Experience with physics-based 1D modeling or reduced-order thermal/fluid models.
- Exposure to CFD/FEA tools such as STAR-CCM+, ANSYS, COMSOL, or similar.
- CAD experience; CATIA or SolidWorks preferred.
- Experience with prototype builds, instrumentation, data acquisition, and validation testing.
- Familiarity with battery thermal systems, energy storage, EVs, HVAC, or powertrain thermal management.
- Familiarity with design validation plans, DFMEA, design-for-manufacturing, or technical design documentation.
- Experience analyzing experimental data from lab, supplier, vehicle, or field-representative testing.
- Hands-on experience in a lab, test cell, prototype shop, Formula SAE, Baja SAE, solar car, robotics, battery research, or similar engineering environment.