Director of Thermal Engineering

Company Description
3D Architech is building the next-generation manufacturing infrastructure for thermal management—where geometry, materials, and heat transfer are co‑designed from first principles. Our proprietary gel‑enabled metal manufacturing platform enables 10‑micron and below feature scales, unlocking thermal and hydraulic performance regimes that conventional machining or additive approaches cannot reach.

Our operation across the USA, Japan, and Taiwan, bridging advanced materials R&D with scalable manufacturing for thermal management applications. As we expand our R&D operations in the US and mass production in Japan, we’re seeking hands‑on, deeply technical leadership role to drive the development of application-specific products for cooling devices with our manufacturing technology.

Role Description
We are seeking a Director of Thermal Engineering to lead and grow our thermal engineering team across the United States and Japan. This is a hands‑on, deeply technical leadership role. You will define the thermal engineering direction of the company—translating customer requirements into next‑generation cooling devices, guiding R&D strategy, and ensuring manufacturable, validated, high‑performance designs reach production.

Key Responsibilities
Push beyond fundamental thermal and fluidic limits through first‑principles thinking across geometry, materials, and system‑level design
Lead R&D with customer requirements to fully leverage our high-resolution and material-versatile manufacturing capabilities
Establish, qualify, and manage key suppliers and fabrication partners to ensure quality, scalability, and long‑term reliability
Contribute hands‑on thermal modeling, simulation, and experimental validation
Engage with customers as a technical leader, building strong relationships that deliver mutual value


Required Qualifications
3+ years of industry experience in thermal engineering, heat transfer, or cooling hardware development
Demonstrated experience leading or strongly influencing thermal R&D efforts in uncertain, fast‑moving environments
Excellent understanding of heat transfer and fluid mechanics grounded in f irst‑principles considerations
Hands‑on experiences of (a) thermal experiments, test design, and data interpretation, (b) CFD and thermal/fluid simulation with model validation, or (c) development of cooling hardware such as cold plates or liquid‑cooling components
Experience in customer‑facing technical roles
Master’s or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related field

Preferred Qualifications:
Experience designing and evaluating high heat‑flux cooling technologies, including cold plates, liquid cooling systems, and two‑phase cooling approaches
Strong experience driving final design decisions efficiently using quantitative engineering approaches such as Design of Experiment (DoE) and optimization methods, with the ability to balance thermal performance and pressure drop
Experience handling complex geometries, including lattice or porous structures
Experience ensuring quality, performance, and reliability of liquid‑cooling devices in collaboration with suppliers and fabrication partners

Work Schedule and Compensation:
Working Hours: Standard business hours with flexibility available.
Occasional domestic and international travel

Benefits:
Medical and dental insurance coverage
Paid leave, maternity/paternity leave, and caregiving leave
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