Senior Vehicle Thermal System Engineer

zoox

4100

Foster City, CA, USA

Posted on: 2026-01-12

Category: emobility

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Employment type:

Full time

Experience required:

Senior

Salary

Salary not provided

About the company:

Zoox is transforming mobility-as-a-service by developing a fully autonomous, purpose-built fleet designed for AI to drive and humans to enjoy.

Zoox is seeking a Senior Thermal System Engineer to join our Vehicle System Integration engineering team. In this key role, you will drive the system requirements, functional architecture, integration, and verification activities to achieve end to end system capability. Collaboration with cross-functional teams is essential, as you'll work with vehicle integration, feature integration, firmware and vehicle component development teams to deliver the overall reliability and performance of our cutting-edge vehicles. We are looking for an engineer that is passionate about developing a ground breaking Robotaxi, has a strong system engineering background, has extensive thermal system experiences, has system problem-solving skills and has a commitment to deliver on time.

In this role, you will:

Lead Thermal System and controls for an autonomous robotaxi.

Design system technical specifications and SFMEA for cabin and component thermal management.

Develop system design and integration test plans to ensure optimal thermal performance, safety, and efficiency for subsystems (battery, powertrain, computing), considering cost, mass, and latency.

Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and firmware teams for system requirements and integration.

Ensure subsystems fulfill requirements and interfaces.

Participate in tech reviews for supplier evaluation and guarantee V&V tests are captured.

Create System FMEAs, diagnostics, and fault reactions for safe operation. Lead issue triage (log/code reviews, HW investigation).

Requires domestic/international travel (2 weeks/year).

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or related field.

Ten years of experience in thermal engineering, preferably in EVs or automotive systems.·

Strong system-level understanding of diverse vehicle thermal architectures for both cabin and component conditioning.

Familiarity with thermal management requirements specific to autonomous compute, High Voltage Battery, and power electronics in EV platforms.

Strong foundation in heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics.

Experience utilizing thermal simulation and system modeling tools, alongside knowledge of thermal controls and calibration concepts.

Deep knowledge of developing automotive systems using model-based processes.

Deep knowledge of developing electrical systems and subsystems requirements, with proficiency in tools like IBM DOORS, Siemens Polarion, or similar.

Knowledge of automotive electrical architectures, including communication protocols (CAN/LIN/Ethernet) application and defining Physical & Functional interfaces.

Knowledge of Automotive Diagnostics (UDS) routines and the Functional Safety Standard (ISO 26262).