About the role
Location & Work Arrangement
- Costa Mesa, CA (On-Site) preferred - Remote opportunities may be considered for exceptionally strong candidates located elsewhere in the U.S.
Employment Details
- Contract: 6 months, with potential for extension or conversion to a permanent position - Target Bill Rate: Up to $120/hour
Requirements
- Must be a U.S. Citizen - Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Thermal design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles at conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design maturities - Define thermal system architectures and material selection strategies for vehicles operating in demanding flight environments - Thermal analysis of flight vehicles using CFD, FEA, and engineering methods - Material response modeling under combined thermal and mechanical loads - Transient thermal analysis for time-varying mission profiles - Ground test planning, execution, and analysis in specialized thermal test facilities - Flight test planning, execution, and post-flight thermal data analysis - Use first principles and MATLAB/Python models to inform design decisions - Collaborate with aerodynamics, structures, electrical, and systems engineers on integrated solutions - Present thermal status at formal reviews internally and with customers - Prepare formal documentation (specifications, test procedures, technical reports)
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- MS or higher degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Applied Physics with focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics - In-depth understanding of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and high-temperature environments - 5+ years of experience in aerospace thermal engineering on rocket, aircraft, or missile programs - Experience with thermal analysis in high-speed flight regimes - Thermal analysis experience using CFD (STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent) and/or FEA thermal solvers - Experience with thermal-structural coupling - Ground testing experience with thermal instrumentation and data acquisition - Strong programming skills in MATLAB, Python, or similar for tool development - Experience preparing formal documentation - CAD experience with SolidWorks or Siemens NX - Passion for defending the United States and her allies - Ability to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with material response modeling in extreme thermal environments - Knowledge of material degradation and surface phenomena under demanding conditions - Experience with specialized thermal ground test facilities - Experience with chemical kinetics and finite-rate chemistry modeling - Flight test experience including instrumentation design and post-flight analysis - Experience with thermal-structural analysis codes (NASTRAN, Abaqus, ANSYS Mechanical) - Material characterization experience at elevated temperatures - Experience with manufacturing and assembly of thermal systems - Active U.S. security clearance
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