OHB Italia is looking for a Junior Thermal Design & Analysis Engineer to join its Thermal Design and Verification Department in Milan.
Junior Thermal Design & Analysis Engineer Ref.JTD_2026
The selected candidate will contribute to the development of Thermal Control Systems — TCS — for satellites, payloads and equipment units. The role covers the full development lifecycle, from requirements definition, trade-off studies and architecture support to preliminary and detailed analyses, verification activities and thermal test support.
Working at the forefront of space technology, we are looking for a motivated engineer who is eager to learn, grow professionally and take on new technical challenges in a dynamic and multidisciplinary environment.
The Junior Thermal Engineer will report functionally to the Thermal Design and Verification Department and, for daily project activities, will be coordinated by the Thermal Architects of the assigned projects.
Your Tasks
You will support the Thermal Architect in the design, analysis and verification of thermal control systems for satellites, payloads and equipment. Your main responsibilities will include:
- Supporting the development of Thermal Control Systems for satellites, payloads and units.
- Performing thermal analyses using different software environments, such as ESATAN-TMS and Systema/Thermica, at various levels of detail according to mission phases.
- Building, maintaining and updating thermal mathematical models.
- Performing thermal analyses for on-ground test predictions and on-orbit temperature predictions.
- Carrying out trade-off investigations in support of thermal architecture definition.
- Supporting the Thermal Architect in the definition of interface requirements with other subsystem owners, including power, avionics, software, operations and system engineering.
- Contributing to the identification and implementation of TCS design solutions.
- Supporting the characterization and specification of thermal hardware elements.
- Producing technical documentation and reports related to modelling and analysis activities.
- Generating and correlating reduced thermal models.
- Supporting the preparation of thermal documentation, including specifications, ICDs, design descriptions, budgets and verification reports.
- Supporting thermal test definition and performing test predictions, where applicable.
- Providing support during thermal system assembly, integration and test activities.
- Participating in thermal test campaigns, including activities as thermal test conductor.
- Performing thermal model correlation based on test data.
Your Qualifications
- 2–5 years of proven experience in thermal modelling and analysis, preferably in the space sector.
- Bachelor’s degree in STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics — or related scientific disciplines.
- Master’s degree in STEM or related scientific disciplines is considered a plus.
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Familiarity with thermal engineering tools such as Systema/Thermica, ESATAN-TMS or Thermal Desktop.
- Good knowledge of heat transfer principles.
- Good understanding of mechanical and thermal design principles.
- Ability to work in a multidisciplinary, multicultural and technically complex environment.
- Innovative mindset, curiosity and willingness to investigate and implement new ideas.
- Proactive attitude in overcoming technical challenges.
- Strong teamwork skills.
- Flexibility, initiative and sense of responsibility.
- Demonstrated ability to deliver results within schedule and quality constraints.
