Avionics Thermal Engineer
US$90,000 – US$140,000 / yr base salary
Posted 13 Oct 2026
Advertised as “Engineer II, Avionics Thermal Engineering (R5298)”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Level
- II
- Expected experience
- 2+ yrs
- Management level
- Individual contributor
- Employment
- On-Site
- Contract
- Full-time
| Base salary | US$90,000 – US$140,000 / yr |
|---|
Field of studyEngineering
Study levelMaster's
Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
Job Description:
Are you a passionate and innovative thermal engineer looking to help develop state of the art AI and aircraft products? Are you eager to make a positive difference in the world? Do you want to work alongside mission driven and values focused teammates? Shield AI is just the place for you!
As a Level 2 Thermal Engineer at Shield AI, you will own the design, analysis, and integration of aircraft avionics thermal management systems and electronics cooling.
This role is best suited for an engineer who thrives on first-principles problem solving, is comfortable with ambiguous, open-ended challenges, and can communicate well across functions, ensuring well coordinated thermal management solutions.
What you'll do:
- Own thermal solutions for unmanned aerial vehicle avionics including design, analysis, and test.
- Develop and validate analytical, numerical, and computational models for heat transfer and fluid flow using hand calculations and CFD tools such as FloEFD.
- Provide technical leadership in trade studies, system architecture decisions, and risk assessments.
- Drive test planning, instrumentation, and data analysis to correlate models with experimental results.
- Guide cross-disciplinary teams in applying thermal/fluid fundamentals.
- Communicate technical findings clearly through design reviews, and written reports.
- Proactively identify risks, propose solutions, and influence electrical and/or PCBA design direction.
Required qualifications:
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline.
- Minimum 2 years of professional experience in avionics or electronics thermal engineering.
- Strong expertise in heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation) and fluid mechanics.