Thermal Design Engineer/Lead - Electronics Cooling

We are looking for an experienced Senior Thermal Design Engineer / Thermal Lead to lead and execute thermal design, analysis, simulation, and validation activities for high-performance electronics and aerospace & defence systems.

The candidate will be responsible for developing reliable thermal management solutions for complex electronic systems, working closely with mechanical, electrical, system, and manufacturing teams from concept through qualification.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead thermal design and thermal management of aerospace & defence electronic systems, processors, radar electronics, avionics, VPX systems, and high-power electronic packages.
• Perform thermal analysis and CFD simulations for conduction-cooled and air-cooled electronic systems.
• Develop thermal solutions involving:
• Heat sinks and finned structures
• Cold plates
• Heat pipes and vapor chambers
• Thermal interface materials (TIMs)
• Fans and forced-air cooling
• Conduction cooling
• Natural and forced convection
• Perform component-level, board-level, chassis-level, and system-level thermal analysis.
• Develop and optimize thermal architectures for 3U/6U VPX and other high-density electronic platforms.
• Conduct steady-state and transient thermal simulations and evaluate temperature margins against component and system requirements.
• Perform thermal resistance calculations, heat-load estimation, thermal network development, and hand calculations to support design decisions.
• Create and optimize CFD/thermal simulation models, including appropriate meshing, boundary conditions, material properties, heat loads, and solver settings.
• Correlate simulation results with thermal test/experimental data and perform model validation.
• Support thermal qualification and environmental testing, including preparation of test plans, instrumentation requirements, and test reports.
• Carry out thermal design reviews, trade-off studies, design optimization, and root-cause analysis for thermal issues.
• Work closely with mechanical, electrical, PCB, system, and manufacturing teams to ensure thermal requirements are incorporated into product design.
• Review component datasheets and system power budgets and establish thermal budgets and temperature limits.
• Prepare technical reports, thermal analysis reports, design documentation, presentations, and customer-facing technical material.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring to junior thermal engineers.
• Participate in customer discussions, design reviews, technical meetings, and project planning activities.

Required Technical Skills

• Strong fundamentals in heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and electronics cooling.
• Hands-on experience in CFD/thermal simulation tools, preferably Flowtherm XT / equivalent CFD tools.
• Experience with Icepak, ANSYS or other thermal/CFD tools will be an advantage.
• Strong understanding of:
• Conduction cooling
• Forced convection
• Natural convection
• Heat spreading
• Thermal resistance networks
• Heat sinks
• Cold plates
• Heat pipes
• Vapor chambers
• TIM selection and characterization
• Fan selection and system airflow
• Experience in thermal management of high-power/high-density electronics.
• Knowledge of VPX / conduction-cooled electronics and aerospace electronics packaging is highly desirable.
• Ability to independently perform engineering calculations and make thermal design decisions.
• Experience in thermal testing, instrumentation, and simulation-to-test correlation.

Preferred Experience

Experience with aerospace & defence electronics such as:

• Radar systems
• Avionics
• Mission computers / processors
• SDR systems
• RPU/ERPU
• DTRMS/ODRMS
• 3U/6U VPX systems
• High-power processor boards
• Conduction-cooled electronic modules
• Air-cooled electronic enclosures

Education: B.E./B.Tech/M.E./M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering

Key Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving ability
• Independent ownership of thermal engineering activities
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously
• Strong technical documentation and communication skills
• Good cross-functional collaboration
• Ability to mentor and technically guide junior engineers
• Experience working in a design-and-development environment

Strong attention to engineering accuracy and product reliability