Director of Mechanical & Thermal Engineering

We are looking for an experienced Director of Mechanical & Thermal Engineering to lead the development of ZutaCore’s next-generation liquid cooling solutions.

This role will lead the mechanical and thermal engineering organization and oversee the development of CDUs, cold plates, manifolds, fluid distribution, and thermal management systems – from architecture and design through validation and production.

The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in thermal-fluid sciences and mechanical design with strong leadership skills and a proven track record of bringing complex products from concept to production.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop ZutaCore’s mechanical and thermal engineering team.
• Define and execute the mechanical and thermal engineering roadmap in alignment with the company’s product strategy.
• Lead the architecture, design, and development of CDUs, cold plates, manifolds, fluid distribution, and thermal management systems.
• Drive technical decisions, design methodologies, and engineering best practices.
• Lead the full product development lifecycle, from concept and simulation through prototyping, validation, certification, and production release.
• Oversee CFD, FEA, thermal simulations, mechanical design, and experimental validation.
• Ensure designs meet performance, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, and cost requirements.
• Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary R&D, product, manufacturing, supply chain, and operations teams.
• Work with customers, hyperscalers, OEMs, and strategic partners on technical requirements and solutions.
• Manage engineering priorities, resources, schedules, and development processes.

Requirements

• B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or a related field.
• 12+ years of engineering experience, including 5+ years in engineering leadership roles.
• Deep expertise in heat transfer, fluid dynamics, thermal management, liquid cooling, and mechanical system design.
• Experience developing CDUs, cold plates, liquid cooling systems, or related thermal-fluid technologies.
• Proven experience taking complex electromechanical products from concept through validation and production.
• Experience with CFD and thermal simulation tools such as ANSYS Fluent, Icepak, STAR-CCM+, FloTHERM, or equivalent.
• Experience with mechanical CAD platforms such as SolidWorks, Creo, NX, or equivalent.
• Strong knowledge of product development, manufacturing, reliability, and validation processes.
• Proven experience leading and developing multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Advantages:

• Experience in data center cooling, HPC infrastructure, AI clusters, or liquid-cooled server platforms.
• Experience working with hyperscalers, server OEMs, or strategic technology partners.
• Experience with two-phase cooling technologies.
• Startup or high-growth technology company experience.