Mechanical & Thermal Staff Engineer

About Us
Axelera AI is not your regular deep-tech startup. We are creating the next-generation AI platform to support anyone who wants to help advancing humanity and improve the world around us.

In just four years, we have raised a total of $370 million and have built a world-class team of 220+ employees (including 49+ PhDs with more than 40,000 citations), both remotely from 18 different countries and with offices in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, the UK, headquartered at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

We have also launched our Metis™ AI Platform, which achieves a 3-5x increase in efficiency and performance, and have visibility into a strong business pipeline exceeding $100 million.

Our unwavering commitment to innovation has firmly established us as a global industry pioneer.

Are you up for the challenge?

Position Overview
We are looking for a Staff Mechanical & Thermal Engineer to lead the development of cooling solutions for our AI accelerator cards and platforms based on Axelera's processors, targeted at the full spectrum from edge devices to high-performance computing (HPC) platforms. Typical products include PCIe accelerator cards, M.2 form-factor modules, OEM single board computer.

The role has two clear missions

• Lead the design of Axelera's AI accelerator cards and platforms, ensuring mechanical fit and thermal performance from concept to production hand-off, owning both in-house design and the technical management of external suppliers for outsourced cooling solutions.

• Test and validate the cooling solution end-to-end, including thermal simulation, simulation-to-test correlation, lab execution, and characterisation reporting suitable for senior management, suppliers, and customers.

You will own the cooling-solution life-cycle from concept and structured trade-off analysis through validation and production hand-off, in close collaboration with industry partners, OEM customers, and external suppliers.

The following domains are not relevant for this role: HVAC, automotive/aerospace thermal, additive manufacturing simulation, and pure research roles.

Key responsibilities
Design Leadership

Architect cooling solutions across the full technology set: passive heat sinks, heat pipes, vapor chambers, cold plates, and heat spreaders for fanless systems

Drive make-or-buy decisions; manage in-house design or supplier-outsourced development accordingly

Run the full CFD cycle (model setup → correlation with test data) from chip to system level

Lead structured trade-off analysis and arrive at design reviews with clear, evidence-based recommendations

Partner with PCB and electronics engineers to co-optimise thermal and electrical design from the start

Test & Validation

Define and execute validation plans with documented simulation-to-test correlation

Run hands-on thermal lab work: chambers, multi-channel DAQ, thermocouples, airflow and power measurements

Apply DOE methodology to plan campaigns efficiently within constrained test budgets

Automate measurement workflows and post-processing pipelines in Python

Produce clear characterisation reports usable by management, suppliers, and customers without further interpretation

Supplier & Cross-functional Management

Scout, qualify, and manage cooling suppliers across the full lifecycle: NRE, sample qualification, design freeze, production transfer, quality resolution (8D)

Maintain project planning in Jira/Confluence and communicate status proactively across functions

Requirements

10+ years in board/system-level mechanical and thermal design for electronics, including HPC-class platforms

Demonstrated experience with PCIe accelerator cards, M.2 thermal solutions, and fanless embedded systems

Full ownership of CFD/FEM simulation cycles (FloEFD, Icepak or equivalent)

High-TDP chip cooling (200 W+), forced-air server integration, heat pipe and vapor chamber design

Proficiency in 3D CAD (NX, Solid Works, or similar) and rapid prototyping (3D printing, CNC)

Python for test automation and data post-processing; comfortable in Linux environments

Solid grasp of DOE, uncertainty analysis, and simulation-to-test correlation methodologies

Track record of supplier management…