Thermal Systems Engineer, Performance Optimization #3612657

Join a high-performing engineering team focused on optimizing next-generation thermal systems for high-density data center, AI, HPC, and mission-critical environments. This organization is helping shape the future of cooling infrastructure by combining modeling, simulation, controls, field data, validation, and systems engineering to improve performance, reliability, efficiency, and deployment readiness.

This team works across advanced cooling technologies, including liquid cooling, airside cooling, rack-level thermal systems, facility cooling loops, controls strategies, heat rejection, and high-density compute environments. The Performance Optimization Engineer will help evaluate how systems behave under real operating conditions and translate insights into better designs, controls, reference architectures, and customer-facing technical recommendations.

This is a full-time direct hire opportunity supporting a high-growth data center thermal systems portfolio.

The role offers the chance to work on advanced modeling, simulation, and performance optimization for AI and high-density compute cooling systems. The right candidate will help bridge design intent, analytical prediction, controls behavior, validation data, and real-world operating performance.

Remote flexibility may be considered for exceptional candidates, with travel expected as needed for customer meetings, field validation, lab testing, technical reviews, industry events, and project support.

• Develop and use modeling, simulation, and analytical tools to evaluate data center thermal system performance.
• Analyze cooling architectures involving liquid cooling, airside systems, CDUs/TCS, cold plates, rack airflow, CRAH/CRAC/AHU systems, chillers, dry coolers, heat exchangers, pumps, and heat-rejection systems.
• Evaluate performance tradeoffs across efficiency, capacity, pressure drop, airflow, coolant flow, redundancy, controls behavior, and operating modes.
• Support control strategy development, sequence-of-operation inputs, mode tables, setpoints, sensor strategy, and optimization logic.
• Correlate simulation results with lab, field, commissioning, or operational data.
• Build models that help predict system behavior under varying loads, ambient conditions, failure modes, and deployment scenarios.
• Partner with engineering, product, controls, field, sales, and customer-facing teams to identify performance risks and optimization opportunities.
• Support troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, validation planning, and field performance reviews.
• Create technical documentation, analysis reports, reference design inputs, and customer-facing recommendations.
• Help improve internal tools, modeling methods, and engineering workflows for advanced data center cooling systems.

• 5+ years of relevant experience in thermal systems, data center cooling, mechanical systems, controls, modeling, simulation, validation, or performance engineering.
• Experience with data center, AI/HPC, mission-critical, electronics cooling, HVAC, or advanced thermal-fluid systems.
• Strong modeling or simulation background using tools such as CFD, thermal network modeling, hydronic modeling, controls modeling, energy modeling, or digital twin platforms.
• Experience with tools such as ANSYS Fluent, Icepak, FloTHERM, STAR-CCM+, 6Sigma, TileFlow, Cadence Reality DC, Cadence Celsius, MacroFlow, AFT Fathom, Pipe-Flo, MATLAB, Python, Simulink, Modelica, Trace, HAP, or similar.
• Understanding of controls, BAS/BMS, sequence of operations, setpoints, operating modes, sensor strategy, or closed-loop system behavior.
• Ability to translate analysis into practical engineering decisions, product improvements, controls recommendations, and customer-facing insights.
• Experience correlating models with test data, commissioning data, field data, or operational data.
• Familiarity with liquid cooling, direct-to-chip, CDU/TCS systems, rack airflow, heat rejection, chillers, dry coolers, or facility cooling loops is preferred.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Exposure to OCP, ASHRAE TC 9.9, IEEE, ASME, or other data center / thermal standards organizations is helpful but not required.