Mechanical Engineer – Thermal

Who We Are

At Firestorm, we are building the future of expeditionary defense manufacturing and autonomous systems. Modern conflict has exposed a fundamental problem: the systems needed most by operators are often too expensive, too slow to produce, and too difficult to sustain estorm exists to change that.

We develop mission-adaptable aerial systems and deployable manufacturing infrastructure designed to put capability directly into the hands of the warfighter. From modular unmanned aircraft to xCell — our deployable microfactory — our goal is to make defense systems rapidly deployable, adaptable, and producible at the point of need.

We are looking for builders, operators, and problem-solvers who want to work on meaningful technology with real-world impact.

As a Staff Thermal Engineer at Firestorm, you will own the thermal architecture, analysis, and validation of the systems that keep our sUAS platforms—and the high‑power payloads they carry—operating reliably across the full mission envelope. You will design the cooling solutions for engines, batteries, avionics, radios, and electro‑optical payloads, balancing thermal performance against the brutal SWaP‑C constraints of small unmanned aircraft.

This is a hands‑on, full‑time role with end‑to‑end ownership: define thermal requirements, build analytical and CFD models, design heat rejection hardware, specify surface treatments and thermal interface materials, and run benchtop and environmental testing through flight qualification. You will be the thermal authority across all air vehicles, working shoulder‑to‑shoulder with propulsion, electrical, structures, and payloads engineering to make sure nothing on our aircraft ever fails because it got too hot.

• Develop thermal architectures for sUAS platforms covering engines, fuel systems, batteries, ESCs, flight computers, radios, EO/IR payloads, and other mission electronics.
• Build and run thermal analyses—from first‑principles hand calculations to detailed CFD and FEA (Ansys Icepak, Fluent, Thermal Desktop, or equivalent)—to predict component and system‑level performance.
• Design active and passive cooling solutions, including forced‑air ducting, cold plates, heat sinks, heat pipes, and conduction paths into airframe structure.
• Select and specify thermal interface materials, gap pads, potting compounds, and surface treatments; perform α/ε trade studies for radiative surfaces and anodized enclosures.
• Own the thermal qualification campaign: define thermal test plans, instrument prototypes with thermocouples and IR imaging, run environmental chamber testing, and correlate models to data.
• Partner with electrical engineering on PCB thermal design, component derating, and enclosure heat rejection.
• Support payload integration by characterizing thermal performance of EO/IR sensors, RF emitters, and other heat‑dense modules at altitude and in hot/cold soak conditions.
• Generate and maintain thermal engineering documentation: analysis reports, test plans, qualification reports, and thermal budgets tracked at the system level.
• Travel to test sites and customer flight events to instrument aircraft, capture thermal flight data, and validate models in operational conditions.

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field (Master's degree preferred)
• 7+ years of experience in thermal engineering, preferably in aerospace, defense, automotive, or high‑power electronics
• Deep proficiency in CFD and thermal analysis tools (Ansys Icepak, Fluent, Thermal Desktop, Star‑CCM+, or equivalent)
• Strong fundamentals in heat transfer—conduction, convection, radiation—and ability to validate models by hand
• Hands‑on experience designing forced‑air and conduction cooling solutions for embedded electronics and/or propulsion systems
• Experience designing, modeling, or validating oscillating or copper/water heat pipe systems for high‑power electronics or aerospace applications
• Experience selecting and qualifying thermal interface materials, coatings, and surface treatments
• Demonstrated history of running thermal test campaigns: instrumentation, environmental…