Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering with a focus on thermal sciences.
Minimum 8 years of experience in thermal analysis, design, or management.
Strong analytical mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguity.
Proficiency in thermal analysis tools like ANSYS and Star CCM+.
Excellent communication skills for synthesizing complex information across teams.
Demonstrated expertise in thermal requirements definition and risk management.
Experience interfacing with engineering and manufacturing groups.
Responsibilities
Serve as the thermal design authority for the A&D Structures team.
Define and validate thermal requirements with government and industry customers.
Develop thermal management strategies and lead internal trade studies.
Guide thermal aspects of design reviews and establish thermal maturity metrics.
Build and maintain high-fidelity thermal models and correlate with test data.
Collaborate with technical experts to establish thermal analysis standards.
Support vehicle builds and product development testing.
Benefits
Holistic compensation package including competitive salary and equity plan.
Paid vacation, sick time, and company holidays, plus paid parental leave.
Comprehensive health benefits with HMO and PPO options, life insurance, and disability coverage.
Reimbursement opportunities for professional development and learning initiatives.
Collaborative and high-performing work environment focused on innovation.
Full Job Description
Purpose
As a Senior Thermal Engineer, you will serve as the technical authority for Divergent's aero-structures portfolio, responsible for pushing the envelope of our technology with respect to thermal optimization and performance of Divergent's structural components. You'll be accountable for owning the full development life cycle from conceptual design through customer delivery, ensuring high-performance, reliable systems that meet the demands of complex, unforgiving environments.
This role demands both technical depth and program maturity: the ability to engage government and industry partners to refine requirements for thermal performance for both new and legacy systems, while fostering internal alignment across internal engineering teams. You will be called on to derive thermal requirements in the absence of written specifications and are expected to challenge and shape requirements when appropriate - ensuring that the final product meets mission intent. The Role
Serve as the thermal design authority for Divergent's A&D Structures team, owning thermal architecture from concept through qualification.
Define, negotiate, and validate thermal requirements and budgets with government and industry customers.
Develop thermal management strategies and lead internal trade studies-including heat rejection, insulation, and material selection.
Guide thermal aspects of design reviews, establish standardized thermal maturity metrics and qualification criteria across Divergent's A&D customer portfolio.
Build and maintain high-fidelity thermal models (conduction, convection, radiation, steady state and transient analyses) and drive correlation with test data throughout the product lifecycle. Accountable for comprehensive thermal qualification and verification planning, including environmental testing, thermal cycling, and thermal analysis correlation.
Collaborate with senior technical experts to establish thermal analysis standards and model technical excellence inside and outside the organization, including with government customers and prime contractors.
Support vehicle builds and product development testing, including thermal instrumentation, data reduction, and troubleshooting.
Collaborates with senior technical experts to establish technical standards, and models technical excellence inside and outside the organization including government customers and prime contractors.
Basic Qualifications:
Ability to lawfully access information and technology that is subject to US export controls.
Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline with a thermal sciences focus.
Minimum 8 years of experience in thermal analysis, design, or management.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to synthesize complex thermal development engineering to simple terms and find alignment across multifunctional stakeholders including government customers and prime contractors.
Strong analytical and practical mindset-comfortable navigating ambiguity and driving structured clarity across thermal, structural, and systems boundaries.
Demonstrated excellence in thermal requirements definition, verification planning, and risk management across terrestrial & space thermal development and multidisciplinary teams.
Experience interfacing with engineering, testing, and manufacturing groups to understand system designs and the associated thermal constraints.
Demonstrated expertise in thermal analysis throughout the design, build, and test phases of a development cycle, including steady-state and transient modeling.
Proficiency with industry thermal analysis tools such as ANSYS (Fluent, Thermal Desktop, Icepak), Star CCM+, PowerFlow.
Preferred Qualifications:
Current Secret DoD security clearance or ability to obtain and retain clearance within 365 days from submission.
8+ years of experience in a broad range of terrestrial and space system development applications and qualification.
Familiarity with relevant MIL-STDs (e.g., MIL-STD-810 thermal methods, MIL-STD-1540 environmental testing) and NASA STD's (e.g., NASA-STD-7002 - Thermal Verification, KSC-STD-Z-0017). Proficiency in NASA-ST-6030 - Additive Manufacturing Requirements for Spaceflight Systems preferred.
Demonstrated excellence in developing thermal solutions for aerospace and defense applications, including aerodynamic heating, electronics cooling, and propulsion thermal management.
Experience with additive manufacturing, advanced thermal interface materials, or novel cooling architectures.
Expert understanding of thermophysical properties and thermal behavior of various material systems (composites, adhesives, metals) across operational temperature ranges.
Experience with thermal vacuum testing, altitude simulation, and correlation of thermal models to test data.
Work Environment
Requires frequent standing, walking, and interaction across production and R&D work areas.
May occasionally require extended or weekend hours to meet production deadlines.
Work is performed in an office environment and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment and keyboards.
Compensation
At Divergent, our pay range is based on the level of the job. For this role, we will consider candidates at level E05 as evaluated through our interview process
EO5 / Senior: $141,380 - $194,390
Pay Range
$141,380-$194,390 USD
What We Offer Our Regular, Full-Time Employees:
Holistic Compensation Package: Enjoy a world-class compensation package that includes a competitive salary, equity plan, and discretionary results-based incentive bonus opportunities, ensuring you're truly valued for your contributions.
Wellness and Time Off: Embrace a healthy lifestyle with paid vacation, sick time, and company holidays, including a year-end shutdown to recharge. We support growing families with paid parental leave, recognizing the importance of bonding time.
Comprehensive Health and Wellness: Prioritize your well-being with our comprehensive health and wellness benefits, offering both HMO and Premium PPO options. Additionally, benefit from company-sponsored life insurance and short and long-term disability coverage for peace of mind.
Investment in Growth: We're committed to your professional development. Take advantage of reimbursement opportunities for learning and development initiatives, empowering you to continuously expand your skill set and reach peak performance.
Collaborative and High-Performing Environment: Join our collaborative, dynamic, and high-performing team within a fast-paced, mission-driven company. Together, we're disrupting the traditional manufacturing industry, fostering innovation, and integrating people and technology to reduce our footprint.
