Thermal/Mechanical Hybrid Engineer

Job Title

Thermal/Mechanical Hybrid Engineer

Role Summary

Lead design and optimization of direct-to-chip cold plate modules and cooling subsystems for high-performance data center inference hardware. Work across thermal and mechanical domains to deliver reliable water-cooling solutions, simulations, assemblies, and validation for processor-level cooling.

This role is hands-on engineering: design, simulation, testing, documentation, and cross-functional integration with electrical, mechanical, and vendor teams.

Experience Level

Mid-level — minimum 5 years of relevant thermal/mechanical engineering experience focused on water cooling and cold-plate systems.

Responsibilities

Deliver end-to-end thermal management solutions for high-power processors and adjacent components.

• Lead in-house design and optimization of direct-to-chip cold plate modules (pedestals, nozzles, internal fin designs, etc.).
• Design and optimize water-cooling systems: internal manifolds, quick disconnects, CDUs, and heat exchangers.
• Perform liquid thermal simulations to predict and analyze heat exchanger and cold-plate performance.
• Handle mechanical design, fabrication considerations, and assembly processes for cold plates and associated hardware.
• Evaluate and select thermal interface materials (TIMs) and optimize TIM integration for heat dissipation.
• Explore and prototype advanced cooling concepts (e.g., phase-change, liquid cooling variants) and assess trade-offs.
• Oversee testing, validation, and reliability characterization; diagnose thermal issues and implement corrective actions.
• Create and maintain design documentation, simulation reports, test plans, and verification records.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and external vendors to integrate thermal solutions into systems.

Requirements

Practical skills and experience required to perform the role.

• Must-have: Minimum 5 years experience in thermal/mechanical engineering with a focus on water cooling and cold-plate designs.
• Must-have: Proven experience designing direct-to-processor cold plate modules and related cooling hardware.
• Must-have: Proficiency with thermal simulation tools and CFD for liquid cooling (experience with Fluent preferred).
• Must-have: Strong mechanical design skills, including GD&T, mechanical tolerances, and producing manufacturing-ready drawings.
• Must-have: Proficiency in mechanical CAD (NX, Creo, CATIA, or equivalent).
• Must-have: Experience with testing/validation of thermal systems and producing clear technical documentation.
• Must-have: Familiarity with TIM selection and integration, and with fabrication/assembly constraints for cold plates.
• Nice-to-have: Experience with advanced cooling technologies (phase change cooling, specialized heat exchangers) and coolant distribution units.
• Nice-to-have: Experience applying DFM/DFA for cost-effective thermal hardware production.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or a related field is required. Advanced degrees or certifications in thermal management or related areas are highly desirable.

About the Company

Company: Etched

Headquarters: San Jose, CA, United States

Etched develops purpose-built AI inference ASICs and systems optimized for transformer models, aiming to deliver significantly higher performance, lower cost, and lower latency than GPUs. The company focuses on enabling applications like real-time video generation and advanced reasoning agents, and is backed by leading investors and engineers.