{"id":3190433,"url":"https://alion.io/job/xona-space-systems-thermal-engineer-analysis-test","title":"Thermal Engineer - Analysis & Test","company":{"id":685097,"name":"Xona Space Systems","domain":"xonaspace.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/xonaspace","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":90,"open_postings":15,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.2,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":84,"computed_at":"2026-10-25T05:49:26Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Burlingame, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":132000,"max":178000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":178000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"ECSS","optional":true},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":true},{"name":"Python","optional":true},{"name":"Thermal Desktop","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-24T00:02:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-24","last_verified_at":"2026-10-25T12:08:27Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.\nWith Pulsar - the world’s most advanced PNT satellite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit - Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.\nRole Overview\nWe are seeking a hands-on Thermal Engineer to support the thermal design and environmental verification of our spacecraft. This role combines thermal analysis with direct ownership of thermal test development and execution.\nDuring the first year, the role is expected to be approximately 50% thermal analysis and 50% test work. Over time, it will shift toward increasing ownership of component-, subsystem-, and spacecraft-level thermal analysis.\nYou will own work from early thermal modeling and collaboration with mechanical designers through thermal-vacuum (TVAC), thermal-chamber, and targeted R&D test campaigns. You will work closely with mechanical, electrical, systems, integration, and test teams to turn hardware designs into credible thermal models, generate test evidence, correlate models to data, and drive design improvements.\nThis is an excellent role for an engineer who enjoys both analytical problem-solving and hands-on work with spacecraft hardware.\nWhat You’ll Do\nThermal Analysis & Design Support\nDevelop and maintain thermal models for components, assemblies, and spacecraft-level systems.\n\nPerform steady-state and transient thermal analyses to assess operating temperatures, thermal margins, heater requirements, and environmental performance.\n\nCollaborate with mechanical designers to influence thermal interfaces, materials, surface finishes, insulation approaches, mounting strategies, and component placement.\n\nPerform thermal design trades and clearly communicate analysis assumptions, risks, results, and recommendations to cross-functional teams.\n\nDevelop model inputs using hardware configuration, material properties, test data, and engineering judgment.\n\nCorrelate thermal models with test results and use findings to improve model fidelity and guide future design decisions.\n\nThermal Test Development & Execution\nDevelop and lead TVAC, thermal-chamber, thermal-cycling, and targeted R&D thermal test campaigns.\n\nDefine test objectives, success criteria, instrumentation plans, sensor locations, data requirements, and test configurations.\n\nWrite test plans, procedures, setup instructions, test reports, and verification documentation.\n\nPrepare and configure test hardware, including temperature sensors, heaters, harnessing, insulation, fixturing, and data-acquisition equipment.\n\nExecute tests safely and efficiently; monitor data in real time, troubleshoot anomalies, and lead post-test data review.\n\nSupport test readiness reviews, post-test inspections, functional testing, anomaly resolution, and configuration tracking.\n\nImprove in-house thermal test infrastructure, procedures, automation, and data-analysis tools as needed.\n\nCross-Functional Engineering\nWork closely with mechanical, electrical, systems, integration, manufacturing, and test engineers throughout the hardware-development lifecycle.\n\nProvide early, practical thermal feedback to design teams to reduce downstream risk and rework.\n\nSupport thermal verification planning and contribute analysis and test evidence to design reviews and flight qualification activities.\n\nWork with vendors and external test laboratories when specialized facilities or capabilities are required.\n\nDrive lessons learned from analysis and testing into thermal design practices, test methods, and future spacecraft builds.\n\nRequired Qualifications\nBS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.\n\nEarly-career to mid-career experience in thermal engineering, thermal analysis, environmental testing, or a closely related hardware discipline.\n\nStrong understanding of heat transfer, including conduction, convection, radiation, transient thermal behavior, thermal interfaces, and material properties.\n\nExperience creating, reviewing, or using thermal models for hardware, components, or integrated systems.\n\nExperience supporting hands-on hardware testing in a lab, environmental-test, aerospace, or similarly rigorous hardware environment.\n\nAbility to develop clear engineering documentation, including test procedures, analysis summaries, reports, and presentations.\n\nStrong organizational skills, attention to detail, and comfort working directly with hardware.\n\nAbility to independently drive technical work, solve ambiguous problems, and collaborate effectively across disciplines.\n\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with spacecraft thermal-analysis tools such as Thermal Desktop/SINDA, ESATAN, or equivalent.\n\nDirect experience supporting or leading TVAC, thermal-vacuum, thermal cycling, or thermal-chamber tests.\n\nExperience with thermocouples, RTDs, heaters, data-acquisition systems, vacuum-compatible hardware, and test instrumentation.\n\nExperience correlating thermal models with environmental-test data.\n\nFamiliarity with spacecraft environmental-test standards and practices, such as GEVS, MIL-STD-1540, ECSS, or SMC-S-016.\n\nExperience using Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for test-data reduction, analysis, or automation.\n\nExperience working in a fast-paced aerospace, space, robotics, research, or high-reliability hardware environment.\n\nExperience developing, troubleshooting, automating, or modifying thermal or TVAC chamber capabilities.\n\nWhat Success Looks Like\nThermal models are credible, well documented, and useful for guiding spacecraft design decisions.\n\nTVAC, thermal-chamber, and R&D test campaigns are safe, organized, well instrumented, and produce actionable results.\n\nTest results close key thermal risks, improve model fidelity, and drive practical design improvements.\n\nCross-functional teams receive clear, timely thermal guidance throughout design, build, and qualification.\n\nThe engineer grows into ownership of increasingly complex subsystem- and spacecraft-level thermal analysis.\n\nThermal analysis and test lessons learned are incorporated into scalable spacecraft design and verification practices.\n\nFor U.S. Roles: To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e. Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).\nFor U.K. Roles: To comply with U.K. regulations, this role requires Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks, and successful candidates must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).\nFor Canada Roles: Successful candidates must obtain and hold a security clearance at the reliability status level, and pass security assessment for the Canadian Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and ITAR.\nWe celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7216,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Satellite Navigation","Satellite Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-24T01:27:09Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":84,"reasons":["conf:1","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-25T05:49:26Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":178000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/xona-space-systems-thermal-engineer-analysis-test","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/xona-space-systems-thermal-engineer-analysis-test.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-25T14:00:21Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":19983,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-26T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":685097},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=685097"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fxona-space-systems-thermal-engineer-analysis-test"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fxona-space-systems-thermal-engineer-analysis-test"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fxona-space-systems-thermal-engineer-analysis-test"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/xona-space-systems-thermal-engineer-analysis-test\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fxona-space-systems-thermal-engineer-analysis-test"}]}