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