Job Title: Specialist Thermal Engineer
Job Description
The Specialist Thermal Engineer will architect, design, and validate advanced thermal solutions for energy storage systems and power electronics across a diverse product portfolio. This role focuses on creating robust, efficient, and manufacturable thermal architectures, leveraging CFD modeling, experimental validation, and close collaboration with cross-functional engineering teams. The position is ideal for an expert in electronics cooling and heat transfer who enjoys owning designs from concept through volume production and influencing product performance, reliability, and cost.
Responsibilities
- Architect and design thermal solutions for energy storage systems (ESS) and power electronics, ensuring performance, reliability, and manufacturability.
- Develop detailed thermal architectures that balance performance, form, and function across multiple products and platforms.
- Build and refine CFD models to predict thermal behavior and optimize cooling strategies for passive, forced-air, liquid, and two-phase systems.
- Create and instrument thermal test vehicles to validate simulation results and confirm thermal performance under real-world conditions.
- Optimize designs for thermal performance, design for manufacturing (DFM), design for assembly (DFA), acoustics, size, reliability, and cost.
- Provide clear, actionable thermal design guidance and recommendations to cross-functional engineering teams, including mechanical, electrical, and systems engineering.
- Identify, evaluate, and select components for passive, forced-air, liquid, and two-phase thermal solutions, including fans, radiators, heat sinks, and heat pipes.
- Manage and support thermal supplier relationships, including component selection, technical discussions, validation activities, and integration into products.
- Partner with validation and reliability teams to define thermal test parameters, acceptance criteria, and test plans for new and existing products.
- Collaborate with software and firmware teams to establish thermal policies and control algorithms that ensure safe and efficient operation.
- Support the transition of thermally complex products from development into volume production through design refinement, validation, and troubleshooting.
- Contribute to failure analysis and root cause investigations related to thermal performance, reliability, and product field issues.
- Apply knowledge of regulatory requirements and testing, particularly for battery energy storage systems, to ensure compliant and safe thermal designs.
Essential Skills
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related field.
- Minimum 7 years of hands-on experience in thermal design and electronics cooling.
- Expert-level knowledge of heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics.
- Expertise in modeling passive cooling, forced-air cooling, liquid cooling, two-phase systems, battery thermal behavior, and solar radiation effects.
- Proficiency in sizing and selecting fans, radiators, heat sinks, heat pipes, and related thermal components.
- Experience with instrumentation and data acquisition methods for thermal validation and testing.
- Expert proficiency with CFD tools such as Ansys, Flotherm, Star-CCM+, or comparable packages.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret and correlate simulation and test data.
- Willingness to travel up to 30%, including international travel.
Additional Skills & Qualifications
- Master's degree in mechanical engineering with a specialization in heat transfer.
- Demonstrated track record of bringing thermally complex products from development into volume production.
- Experience designing thermal solutions for outdoor NEMA/IP-rated products.
- Experience in validation testing, product reliability engineering, and thermal-related failure analysis.
- Proficiency with 3D CAD tools, with preference for Creo or SolidWorks.
- Experience designing thermal solutions specifically for battery energy storage systems.
- Familiarity with battery pack failure modes, including thermal runaway, outgassing, and propagation.
- Working knowledge of UL 9540A regulatory requirements and associated testing for energy storage systems.
- Ability to work collaboratively in cross-functional teams and communicate complex thermal concepts in a clear and practical way.
Work Environment
The Specialist Thermal Engineer will work in a collaborative engineering environment that combines advanced simulation tools with hands-on laboratory validation. The role involves extensive use of CFD software such as Ansys, Flotherm, or Star-CCM+, as well as 3D CAD tools like Creo or SolidWorks for integration of thermal solutions into mechanical designs. You will work closely with validation and reliability labs that are equipped for instrumentation, data acquisition, and thermal testing of energy storage systems and power electronics. The position includes interaction with suppliers and cross-functional teams, and requires up to 30% travel, including international trips, to support testing, supplier engagement, and product deployment. The environment emphasizes technical excellence, data-driven decision-making, and close collaboration across engineering disciplines.
Work Experience:
4-7 years
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
At Actalent, Diversity And Inclusion Are a Bridge Towards The Equity And Success Of Our People. DE&I Is Embedded Into Our Culture Through
- Hiring diverse talent
- Maintaining an inclusive environment through persistent self-reflection
- Building a culture of care, engagement, and recognition with clear outcomes
- Ensuring growth opportunities for our people
Actalent is an equal opportunity employer.
About Actalent
Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services. For more than 40 years, we've helped visionary companies advance their goals. Headquartered in the United States, our teams span 150 offices across North America, EMEA, and APAC—with four delivery centers in India led by 1,000+ extraordinary employees who connect their passion with purpose every day.
Our Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai delivery centers are hubs of engineering expertise, with core capabilities in mechanical and electrical engineering, systems and software, and manufacturing engineering. Our teams deliver work across multiple industries including transportation, consumer and industrial products, and life sciences. We serve more than 4,500 clients, including many Fortune 500 brands. Learn more about how we can work together at actalentservices.com.
