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Cfd Engineer Jobs in Austin, TX (NOW HIRING)

Last Energy

Senior Mechanical Engineer

Austin, TX · On-site

$103K - $136K/yr

As a Senior Mechanical Engineer at Last Energy, you'll work directly with the CEO and core ... Perform structural, thermal, and fluid analyses using advanced simulation tools (FEA, CFD) to ...

Last Energy

Senior Mechanical Engineer

Austin, TX · On-site

$103K - $136K/yr

As a Senior Mechanical Engineer at Last Energy, you'll work directly with the CEO and core ... Perform structural, thermal, and fluid analyses using advanced simulation tools (FEA, CFD) to ...

Last Energy

Senior Mechanical Engineer

Austin, TX · On-site

$103K - $136K/yr

As a Senior Mechanical Engineer at Last Energy, you'll work directly with the CEO and core ... Perform structural, thermal, and fluid analyses using advanced simulation tools (FEA, CFD) to ...

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Showing results 21-40

All JobsCfd Engineer JobsCfd Engineer Jobs in Austin, TX

Cfd Engineer information

See Austin, TX salary details

$10.9K

$92.2K

$130.8K

How much do cfd engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 2, 2026, the average yearly pay for cfd engineer in Austin, TX is $92,197.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $84,700.00 and $109,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a CFD engineer?

As a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) engineer, your responsibilities are to use CFD formulas to predict fluid flows and heat transfers. You use software applications such as OpenFOAM or Gerris to compute the finite element method and the finite volume method, which use partial differential equations to create two- or three-dimensional models and simulations. Your job duties include analyzing problems, building models, and proposing solutions. Your experience makes you a valuable part of research and development teams in the mechanical and chemical engineering industries as well as the automobile, aerospace, and aeronautical industries.

What are some common challenges CFD engineers face when working on complex simulation projects?

CFD Engineers often encounter challenges related to balancing simulation accuracy with computational resources and time constraints. Handling large and intricate geometries can lead to long computation times and may require advanced meshing strategies or high-performance computing. Additionally, accurately modeling boundary conditions and physical phenomena, especially in multiphase or turbulent flows, demands a deep understanding of fluid dynamics and software capabilities. Effective collaboration with design, testing, and product teams is also crucial to validate simulation results and implement practical solutions.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a CFD engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a CFD Engineer, you need a strong background in fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and numerical methods, usually supported by a degree in mechanical, aerospace, or chemical engineering. Expertise in CFD software such as ANSYS Fluent, OpenFOAM, or STAR-CCM+, along with programming skills in Python or MATLAB, is typically required. Attention to detail, problem-solving ability, and clear communication help you interpret complex data and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams. These skills are crucial for delivering accurate simulations, optimizing designs, and supporting engineering decisions in industries where fluid behavior is critical.

What is the difference between Cfd Engineer vs Mechanical Engineer?

AspectCfd EngineerMechanical Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related fields; proficiency in CFD softwareBachelor's in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering; often includes CFD knowledge
Work EnvironmentDesign firms, aerospace, automotive, energy sectors; focus on fluid dynamics simulationsManufacturing, product design, HVAC; broader engineering tasks including mechanics and thermodynamics
Industry UsagePrimarily in industries requiring fluid flow analysisWider industry application including structural and thermal systems

While both roles require a background in mechanical engineering and CFD software, Cfd Engineers specialize in fluid dynamics simulations, whereas Mechanical Engineers have a broader scope including mechanics, thermodynamics, and design. Cfd Engineers focus more on computational analysis, while Mechanical Engineers may handle a wider range of engineering tasks.

Are CFD engineers in demand?

CFD engineers are in demand in industries such as aerospace, automotive, and energy, where computational fluid dynamics simulations are essential for product design and optimization. The role often requires proficiency with simulation software like ANSYS or OpenFOAM and a strong background in fluid mechanics and programming. Job growth is driven by increasing reliance on simulation for cost-effective and efficient engineering solutions.
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Cfd Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Cfd Engineer job openings in Austin, TX as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 91% Full Time, 5% Part Time, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 88% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $92,197 per year, or $44.3 per hour.

Sr. Thermal Engineer - Fluids Analysis, AI Satellites (Starmind)

SpaceX

Bastrop, TX • On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 10 days ago

SpaceX rating

8.7

Company rating: 8.7 out of 10

Based on 150 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

16th of 72 rated aerospace companies

Job description

SR. THERMAL ENGINEER (FLUIDS ANALYSIS), AI SATELLITES (STARMIND)

SpaceX is leveraging its experience deploying and operating the world's largest satellite constellation to develop Starmind, a new constellation of satellites capturing solar energy in space to power low-cost, high-performance AI compute for Earth. Scaling AI in space is a thermal problem as much as a power and processing problem. With a dense compute payload dissipating hundreds of kilowatts, the thermal system must efficiently transfer heat to large radiators that reject it to space, under solar load, eclipse, and multi-mode AI duty cycles.

You will join the StarmindThermal team, which owns the satellite cooling stack end-to-end. Rejecting hundreds of kilowatts of accelerator waste heat to space is limited by high-flux loads transferring heat to massive deployable radiators. No capable cooling architecture has been flown at this scale. As a Senior Thermal Engineer focused on fluids analysis, you own conjugate heat transfer and thermal-fluid analysis of cold plates, heat exchangers, and radiator channels and manifolds, and the system 0-D/1-D thermal-fluid network that sets flow split, P budget, loop T, and pump operating point. You co-evolve geometry and flow path with mechanical and fluid-systems owners under tight feedback from manufacturing and test. You sit where the local physics is hardest and the design decisions stick: predictions that close margins, ground in test, and drive rate-production hardware.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Own conjugate heat-transfer (CHT) and thermal-fluid analysis of high-performance cold plates, heat exchangers, and radiator channels for STARMIND satellites
  • Own the system 0-D/1-D thermal-fluid network that sizes and balances the cooling loop: flow split, P budget, loop T, pump operating point
  • Drive cooling-loop architecture trades with hardware and vehicle-level thermal teammates
  • Co-evolve geometry, materials and processes with hardware owners to find mass producible, efficient thermal solutions
  • Predict component and system performance under wide range of flow and thermal conditions
  • Own pre-test prediction, test design, and model-test correlation for fluid component and integrated thermal tests
  • Automate analysis workflows for re-running trades as designs and boundary conditions change

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor's degree in mechanical, aerospace, or a related engineering discipline
  • 5+ years of professional experience in fluids, CFD, or thermal analysis

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • Master's degree in mechanical, aerospace, or a related engineering discipline
  • Steady/transient conjugate heat-transfer CFD of liquid-cooled or high-heat-flux hardware (STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent/CFX, or equivalent)
  • Hand-calc checks and engineering judgment on mesh, turbulence modeling, and model fidelity
  • Hands on hardware testing inclusive of instrumentation selection and model correlation
  • Relevant manufacturing techniques, and judiciously pushing their constraints
  • Watertight CFD geometry (Siemens NX or equivalent)
  • Package/board-level tools as secondary (Icepak, Flotherm)
  • 0-D/1-D thermal-fluid network modeling to size and balance cooling loops (flow split, P budget, loop T, pump operating point)
  • Scripting analysis workflows and post-processing (Python preferred)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

  • Ability to work extended hours or weekends as needed for mission critical deadlines
  • Some travel may occasionally be required

What SpaceX employees say

Pay

Benefits

Hours and flexibility

Workplace

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About SpaceX

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

Industry

Aerospace product and parts manufacturing, data services, guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing and satellite telecommunications

Company size

1,001 - 5,000 Employees

Headquarters location

Hawthorne, CA, US

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