Robotics Thermal Prototyping Engineer, Thermal Engineering, Optimus

We are looking for a hands-on, research-oriented engineer to explore and develop next-generation thermal management solutions for a general-purpose humanoid robot. This is not a validation or execution role — you will be the team's technology scout and prototype builder, responsible for identifying, evaluating, and proving out emerging cooling technologies before they are ready for design integration. You will work across subsystems — actuators, compute, battery, fans, and full-system thermal architecture — and your findings will directly shape the thermal strategy of future platform generations.

Responsibilities

Identify and evaluate emerging thermal technologies relevant to robotics, including two-phase cooling, vapor chambers, advanced TIMs, and novel airflow architectures Design and build functional prototypes and custom test rigs to explore and validate new cooling concepts across all robot subsystems Work with design engineers to understand unsolved thermal problems and translate them into structured technology exploration programs Maintain a technology readiness roadmap and communicate the potential of promising cooling approaches to design and leadership teams Collaborate with external research partners, vendors, and startups to source and evaluate cutting-edge thermal solutions Produce clear technical reports and presentations that translate experimental findings into actionable design guidance for the engineering teams

Requirements

Degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent experience Deep fundamentals in heat transfer — conduction, convection, radiation, and phase change — applied to real systems Demonstrated experience designing and running thermal experiments in a lab environment, including custom test rig development and instrumented hardware characterization Broad familiarity with cooling technologies and the ability to quickly assess their applicability to constrained dynamically loaded systems Comfortable operating in ambiguous, early-stage problem spaces with limited prior art and minimal direction Clear cross-functional communicator — able to bring experimental findings back to design teams in a way that drives decisions, not just informs them Advanced degree preferred