Senior Thermal Engineer – Payload Systems Verified today

About the Role

Blue Origin is developing TeraWave, a revolutionary multi-orbit satellite communications network featuring optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO). You will lead thermal design and analysis of advanced phased array antenna systems for both satellite payloads and ground-based user terminals, ensuring reliable performance of high-power, high-frequency antenna systems across harsh orbital and terrestrial environments, including Q/V-band and beyond.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead thermal architecture development for satellite-based phased array antennas, including active RF front ends, beamforming ICs, and associated power electronics.
• Design and optimize thermal solutions for ground-based phased array terminals operating under dynamic environmental conditions including solar loading, ambient extremes, precipitation, and installation variability.
• Develop detailed thermal models using tools such as Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT, or equivalent, covering conduction, radiation, and convection regimes.
• Define and manage thermal interfaces across payload subsystems, including radiators, heat pipes, loop heat pipes, cold plates, and structural elements.
• Perform transient and steady-state thermal analyses to validate performance under mission profiles, including peak RF duty cycles, eclipse transitions, and worst-case environmental conditions.
• Collaborate closely with RF, mechanical, and systems engineering teams to ensure thermal constraints are integrated into antenna element layout, T/R module design, and packaging.
• Establish thermal requirements, margins, and verification plans aligned with mission reliability and lifetime goals.
• Support hardware development, including thermal testing, correlation of models to test data, and anomaly resolution.
• Drive thermal design trades balancing performance, mass, power consumption, manufacturability, and cost for both space and ground systems.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to organizational best practices in thermal engineering.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, Physics, or related field.
• 8 or more years of experience in thermal engineering for aerospace, RF systems, or high-performance electronics.
• Demonstrated experience with spaceborne thermal design, including vacuum environments, radiation heat transfer, and flight hardware qualification.
• Strong understanding of phased array antenna systems, including thermal challenges associated with dense T/R module integration and high-power densities.
• Experience with thermal modeling tools such as Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT, ANSYS Icepak, or equivalent.
• Knowledge of materials, coatings, and thermal interface technologies suitable for space and outdoor ground systems.
• Familiarity with environmental standards such as NASA, ESA, MIL-STD and qualification testing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, Physics, or related field.
• Experience with Q/V-band or higher frequency RF systems and associated thermal constraints.
• Background in both space and terrestrial antenna systems, particularly electronically steered arrays.
• Experience with advanced cooling techniques, including loop heat pipes, vapor chambers, and liquid cooling systems.
• Experience supporting production scaling and cost optimization for phased array hardware.

Compensation and Benefits

Base pay range for Washington applicants: $156,802.00 to $219,522.45. Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits include medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with company match up to 5%, education support program, stock options for regular employees working at least 20 hours per week, and up to four weeks paid time off per year plus up to 14 company-paid holidays.

Requirements

Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted as a refugee or granted asylum. Background checks required.