Mechanical & Thermal Staff Engineer

About the Company

Axelera AI is a deep-tech startup creating next-generation AI platforms. Headquartered at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, the company has raised $370 million and employs a world-class team of over 220 people to advance humanity through high-performance AI hardware.

Responsibilities

• Architect cooling solutions including passive heat sinks, heat pipes, vapor chambers, and cold plates
• Drive make-or-buy decisions and manage technical development with external suppliers
• Run full CFD cycles from chip to system level, including model setup and test correlation
• Partner with PCB and electronics engineers to co-optimize thermal and electrical designs
• Define and execute validation plans using DOE methodology
• Perform hands-on thermal lab work involving chambers, DAQ, and thermocouples
• Automate measurement workflows and post-processing pipelines using Python
• Manage cooling suppliers through NRE, sample qualification, and production transfer

Requirements

• 10+ years in board/system-level mechanical and thermal design for electronics
• Experience with PCIe accelerator cards, M.2 thermal solutions, and fanless embedded systems
• Full ownership of CFD/FEM simulation cycles (FloEFD, Icepak or equivalent)
• Expertise in high-TDP chip cooling (200 W+) and forced-air server integration
• Proficiency in 3D CAD (NX, SolidWorks, or similar)
• Python skills for test automation and data post-processing
• Experience with supplier management and NRE negotiation
• Fluency in English

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with AI/ML accelerator hardware or high-density edge compute platforms
• Exposure to two-phase cooling, immersion cooling, or cold plate design
• Familiarity with LabVIEW, PyVISA, or version-controlled lab data pipelines
• OEM customer engagement and design-in support experience