Design and test thermal solutions for advanced satellites at Astranis, a leader in satellite communications.
Posted by employer 3 years ago
First seen on Joblaze 2 days ago
Last verified on the company career page 1 hour ago
Skills & Technologies
What you'll build
- Identify feasible thermal architectures
- Perform thermal analysis on various hardware
- Design and test thermal solutions
- Plan and run thermal vacuum testing
- Mentor and support junior engineers
Must have
- Bachelor of Science degree in engineering or physics
- 8+ years of experience in a thermal/mechanical role
- Experience in thermal analysis and thermally-constrained design
- Proficiency with mechanical CAD
Nice to have
- Experience with Thermal Desktop
- Experience with ANSYS Mechanical or ANSYS IcePak
- Experience with Electronics Packaging and PCB design
- Experience building and operating high vacuum systems
- Experience designing for a vacuum environment
Practical constraints
- U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status Required
Requirements
- Experience
- 8+ years
- Education
- Bachelor's degree
- Visa
- No sponsorship (stated in posting)
Not disclosed in this posting: work arrangement.
Benefits
Joblaze summary
In the role of Senior Thermal Engineer at Astranis, the individual will focus on designing and testing thermal solutions for various spacecraft components, ensuring effective thermal management throughout the design phases. Key skills include thermal analysis, proficiency in mechanical CAD, and a strong problem-solving background, with experience in spacecraft thermal mitigation being advantageous. This position is suited for seasoned engineers with over eight years of relevant experience, particularly those who thrive in fast-paced environments. Astranis, a rapidly growing company, emphasizes collaboration and mentorship within its engineering team.
Joblaze insights
- Listed 2 days ago — first seen on Joblaze September 19, 2026. Last confirmed on Astranis's careers page September 21, 2026.
- Salary band is above the typical range for comparable tech roles (median ~$126,887).
- Starts above 51% of 1145 comparable senior other roles in United States we track (median $143,000 across 184 companies).
- Thermal Engineering appears in 0.4% of 2170 comparable senior other roles in United States; thermal analysis appears in 0.4% of 2170 comparable senior other roles in United States.
Quick facts
- What's the salary range?
- Astranis lists $145,000–$235,000 for this role.
- How much experience is required?
- At least 8 years of relevant experience for this Senior Thermal Engineer role.
- What's the tech stack?
- Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: Mechanical CAD, Thermal Engineering, thermal analysis.
- What seniority level is this role?
- Astranis targets senior candidates for this position.
- Is this full-time or contract?
- Full-time for this Senior Thermal Engineer role at Astranis.
From the original posting
Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today, Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe— large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military. With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts.
Role
- Identify feasible thermal architectures and mature designs through conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design phases using practical passive and active thermal control techniques.
- Take charge of design trades that successfully balance performance margins, resource use, risk, cost, and schedule.
- Perform thermal analysis to varying degrees of fidelity (simplified to detailed) on a variety of different types of hardware such as propulsion components, batteries, high powered electronics, RF components, mechanisms, and printed circuit boards (PCBs).
- Design, evaluate, procure and test thermal solutions such as heaters, heat pipes, thermal interface materials, and surface coatings.
- Develop processes and procedures for integration and assembly which ensure thermal design intent is met. Collaborate with the integration and test team in the installation of thermal hardware as needed.
- Plan and run thermal vacuum testing and verification at the component and spacecraft level.
- Mentor and support junior engineers.
- Assist in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring additional teammates to our rapidly-growing team.
Requirements
- Bachelor of Science degree in engineering or physics
- 8+ years of experience in a thermal/mechanical role
- Experience in thermal analysis and thermally-constrained design; computational thermal design experience (finite methods) is not required but highly preferred
- Proficiency with mechanical CAD
- A passion and enthusiasm for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment and hands-on design and development
- Don't meet them all? Not a problem. Please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.
Bonus
- Experience with Thermal Desktop
- Experience with ANSYS Mechanical or ANSYS IcePak
- Experience with Electronics Packaging and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design
- Experience building and operating high vacuum systems
- Experience designing for a vacuum environment or environments with large temperature swings
Base pay is just one component of Astranis’s total rewards package. Your compensation also includes a significant equity package via incentive stock options, high-quality company-subsidized healthcare, disability and life insurance, 401(k) retirement planning, flexible PTO, and free on-site catered meals.
SMS Terms of Service
a. START
b. UNSTOP
c. YES
Standard company text repeated across Astranis's postings is omitted here.