Space and strategic defense systems operate in some of the most unforgiving environments imaginable. Success depends on precision — and thermal performance is often the difference between mission success and mission failure.
At Lockheed Martin Space, we are redefining resilience and speed through our 21st Century Security vision. We don’t just build systems — we engineer survivability, performance, and reliability into every component. As a Level 4 Thermal Engineer, you will serve as a technical leader driving the thermal architecture of advanced missile systems from concept through qualification and production.
This position supports spacecraft, missile, hypersonic, or other advanced aerospace platforms operating in extreme and highly dynamic environments. If you’re looking for ownership, influence, and the opportunity to solve complex, high-consequence engineering challenges — this role is built for you.
What does this role look like?
As a senior member of the thermal engineering team, you will lead and execute high-fidelity thermal analyses across missile components, subsystems, and fully integrated systems — including ground support equipment — throughout the entire lifecycle.
Your impact will include:
- Owning end-to-end thermal modeling strategy using tools such as NX, Simcenter, SINDA/Fluent, and Thermal Desktop
- Developing preliminary hand calculations and reduced-order models to inform early design trades before advancing to detailed simulations
- Accounting for all relevant heating environments — conduction, convection, radiation (solar, Earth IR, albedo), aerodynamic heating, free molecular heating, and transient mission effects
- Translating program requirements into actionable thermal design criteria and verification strategies
- Leading technical reviews, presenting analysis results to customers, program leadership, and design teams
- Driving thermal support for Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) and environmental testing, including instrumentation strategy and data correlation
- Partnering across structures, materials, propulsion, manufacturing, and quality to develop producible, cost-effective thermal solutions
- Coordinating TPS design, material selection, and component-level thermal integration
This is a highly collaborative, fast-paced environment where your technical judgment and leadership will directly influence system-level performance.
The information below reflects the standard job description for this position:
Researches, plans, designs and develops mechanical products and systems such as instruments, controls, robots, engines, machines and mechanical, thermal hydraulic or heat transfer systems for production, transmission, measurement, and use of energy. Applies research to the planning, design, development, and testing of mechanical and/or electromechanical systems, instruments, controls, engines, and/or machines.
