Akkodis is seeking a Senior Thermal Engineer for a W2 contract position in Costa Mesa, CA . As part of the Thermal Engineering team, you will play a critical role in the rapid development of advanced defense systems, where thermal design, analysis, and testing directly impact product performance, reliability, and mission success. This position focuses on managing and dissipating heat within complex hardware systems to ensure components operate safely, reliably, and within critical operating temperature limits.

Pay Range:

$115.00 to $125.00 per hour on W2; The rate may be negotiable based on experience, education, geographic location, and other factors. Senior Thermal Engineer job responsibilities include: Own thermal design and analysis for integrated hardware products, including drones, aircraft, missiles, or related defense systems. Use first-principles engineering judgment to determine the right level of analysis for each design decision, including hand calculations, spreadsheets, MATLAB / Python models, FEA, and CFD. Define thermal architectures that can withstand rugged environments, demanding flight envelopes, and operational edge cases, including hot, cold, transient, and mission-specific thermal conditions. Partner with electrical, mechanical, aerospace, software, and systems engineers to document power dissipation, operating modes, thermal constraints, and design tradeoffs. Build and maintain thermal

FEA / CFD

models to predict system performance, establish design limits, and define red / yellow operating thresholds for test and field use. Define and execute prototype builds and thermal tests, including CAD support, sensor selection, DAQ setup, data post-processing, and results documentation. Present thermal status, risks, tradeoffs, timelines, and recommendations in internal design reviews and customer-facing technical reviews. Develop internal tools, workflows, or analysis methods that improve speed, consistency, and quality of thermal decision-making. Support failure reviews and root-cause investigations using test data, thermal analysis, and first-principles reasoning.

Qualifications:

MS or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field with a focus on heat transfer, fluid dynamics, thermal sciences, or thermal systems. Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret security clearance. 5+ years of experience designing, analyzing, or validating thermal systems for integrated hardware products. Strong first-principles understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics, including conduction, convection, radiation, fluid flow, and transient thermal behavior. Experience supporting thermal design for aerospace, aircraft, rocket, missile, UAV, defense, or other high-performance hardware systems. Experience using thermal analysis, modeling, simulation, and/or physical test data to drive design decisions for passive or active thermal management systems. Ability to communicate technical tradeoffs clearly across engineering, program, and customer stakeholders.

Preferred Skills:

Experience with thermal analysis tools such as STAR-CCM+, ANSYS, Icepak, Flotherm, or comparable

FEA / CFD

platforms. Experience using MATLAB, Python, spreadsheets, or similar tools for first-order thermal modeling, transient analysis, or engineering trade studies. Experience designing thermal hardware such as heat sinks, cold plates, fans, pumps, heat exchangers, thermal interface materials, liquid cooling systems, or air-cooling systems. Experience planning or executing thermal tests, including sensor selection, data acquisition, data post-processing, and correlation of test results to analysis. Experience with SolidWorks, Siemens NX, or comparable CAD tools. Experience supporting formal design reviews, customer reviews, flight test, qualification testing, or fielded hardware. Experience developing reusable analysis tools, automation workflows, reduced-order models, or other methods that improve analysis speed and consistency. If you are interested in this role, then please click

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For other opportunities available at Akkodis by going to www.akkodis.com . Benefit offerings available for our associates include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, additional voluntary benefits, EAP program, commuter benefits and a 401K plan. Our benefit offerings provide employees the flexibility to choose the type of coverage that meets their individual needs. In addition, our associates may be eligible for paid leave including Paid Sick Leave or any other paid leave required by Federal, State, or local law, as well as Holiday pay where applicable. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled Military connected talent encouraged to apply To read our Candidate Privacy Information Statement, which explains how we will use your information, please navigate to https://www.akkodis.com/en/us/candidate-privacy-policy The Company will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and/or security clearance requirements, including, as applicable: The California Fair Chance Act Los Angeles City Fair Chance Ordinance Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for

Employers San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance Massachusetts Candidates Only:

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Pay Details:

$115.00 to $125.00 per hour Benefit offerings available for our associates include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, additional voluntary benefits, EAP program, commuter benefits and a 401K plan. Our benefit offerings provide employees the flexibility to choose the type of coverage that meets their individual needs. In addition, our associates may be eligible for paid leave including Paid Sick Leave or any other paid leave required by Federal, State, or local law, as well as Holiday pay where applicable. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled Military connected talent encouraged to apply To read our Candidate Privacy Information Statement, which explains how we will use your information, please navigate to https://www.akkodis.com/en/us/candidate-privacy-policy The Company will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and/or security clearance requirements, including, as applicable: The California Fair Chance Act Los Angeles City Fair Chance Ordinance Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for

Employers San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance Massachusetts Candidates Only:

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.