Mechanical Engineer

Leidos currently has an opening for a Thermal/Mechanical Design Engineer to work in our Arlington, Virginia office. This is a highly dynamic and integrative environment in which talented and creative engineers can thrive working on a diverse array of multidisciplinary projects in its Electronic Warfare Division. We are seeking a broadly trained and highly motivated engineer with a strong thermal engineering background to support advanced technology programs from research and development through productization, with emphasis on electronics packaging, PCB/card-level thermal analysis, mechanical design, and reliable operation in constrained small-volume assemblies.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead and perform thermal engineering analyses for electronics packaging, PCB and circuit-card assemblies, modules, and small-volume enclosures used in land-based, airborne, and/or space applications.

• Provide mechanical engineering leadership on new R&D efforts, current designs, and existing products, including trade studies, requirements generation, design development, design reviews, and root-cause investigations.

• Partner with electrical, mechanical, systems, and science teams to influence PCB layout, component placement, materials selection, interface design, and packaging trades for thermal performance.

• Support applied research and engineering development of thermal-mechanical solutions and products across multidisciplinary programs.

• Work within a lab environment and be hands-on with hardware, including thermal instrumentation, prototype evaluation, and design iteration.

Basic Qualifications:

• Experience performing thermal analysis and heat dissipation analysis for electronics, PCBs, circuit cards, card cages, enclosures, or similarly constrained packaging volumes.

• Experience with design, modeling, and analysis of mechanical components and assemblies.

• Experience in electronics packaging design, including 3D modeling, thermal management, mechanical integration, and manufacturable mechanical design.

• Experience using SolidWorks, SolidWorks Simulation, and SolidWorks Flow or comparable CAD, mechanical and thermal analysis.

• Experience with FEA and CFD concepts, including conduction, convection, radiation, contact resistance, airflow restrictions, and component junction-to-ambient thermal paths.

• Experience working with cross-functional development teams; motivated self-starter able to work under minimal supervision.

• Demonstrated strong writing, presentation, and interpersonal skills.

• B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field from an accredited college/university with at least 4 years of relevant mechanical or thermal engineering experience.

• Secret Security Clearance with the ability to obtain a Top-Secret Security Clearance.

• Occasional travel is required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Develop or validate thermal models using finite element analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), hand calculations, and empirical test data to ensure hardware meets operational requirements across expected environments.

• Experience in advanced electronics packaging, chip-to-ambient thermal resistance, board-to-chassis conduction, thermal interface materials, heat spreaders, heat sinks, cold plates, or other passive/active cooling approaches.

• Experience with thermal management of next-generation heterogeneous integrated circuits, chip-centric cooling techniques in harsh environments, and/or radiation shielding.

• Experience with requirements flow-down, thermal margin reporting, design verification, and documentation supporting transition from prototype to production.

• Experience with rapid prototyping techniques including 3D printing and prototype fixture development.

• Knowledge of mechanical and thermal engineering concepts associated with airborne and satellite payload systems.

• Demonstrated leadership of small technical teams and projects.

• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field from an accredited college/university with at least 6 years of relevant mechanical or thermal engineering experience.

NKE

ElectronicWarfare

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

May 29, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $87,100.00 - $157,450.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.