Thermal Engineer Visa Sponsorship Jobs in California
Thermal engineer visa sponsorship jobs in California are concentrated in Silicon Valley, San Diego, and Los Angeles, where semiconductor firms, aerospace contractors, and electric vehicle manufacturers drive demand. Companies like Apple, Qualcomm, Northrop Grumman, and Tesla actively recruit thermal engineers with degrees in mechanical or aerospace engineering for roles in thermal management, heat transfer, and system-level design.
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Get Access To All JobsAbout Eridu
Eridu is a Silicon Valley-based hardware startup pioneering infrastructure solutions that accelerate AI data centers to deliver Faster AI. Today’s AI performance is frequently limited by communication bottlenecks. Eridu introduces multiple industry-first innovations across silicon, packaging, software, and systems to deliver an order of magnitude improvement in performance and unlock greater GPU utilization to speed training job completion times and tokens-per-second for more profitable inference. We do this while simultaneously reducing capital and power costs and improving reliability.
The company’s solutions and value proposition have been widely validated by leading hyperscalers.
Eridu has raised over $200M to date including its most recent, oversubscribed Series A round. The company is led by a veteran team of Silicon Valley executives who have delivered multiple billion dollar product lines and led multiple companies to billion dollar exits, including serial entrepreneur Drew Perkins, co-founder of Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN), Lightera (acq. by Ciena), Gainspeed (acq. by Nokia) and Mojo Vision (the world’s leading micro-LED company). The company is in execution mode and has a world-class engineering team with decades of experience in state-of-the-art silicon, packaging, optics, software, and systems. Eridu is working with best-in-class supply chain partners including silicon, packaging and systems.
About the role
Eridu AI is a well-funded startup in Saratoga, CA building next-generation hardware for AI data center networking. Our systems operate at power densities well beyond conventional networking equipment and rely on advanced liquid cooling.
As a Senior Thermal Engineer, you will own your thermal hardware end to end: design, development, test, release and delivery. Ownership is the core of this role. You drive your parts to closure, you don't wait to be asked, and when something slips or fails you take responsibility for fixing it. You will work closely with suppliers and manufacturing partners to make sure parts arrive on schedule and meet quality requirements.
What you'll do
- Own your thermal components and subsystems from concept to production. You are accountable for their schedule, cost and quality.
- Design and develop thermal hardware for liquid-cooled systems, including cold plates, coolant loop components and thermal interfaces.
- Run thermal and CFD analysis to validate designs and support design decisions.
- Build and execute test plans: thermal test vehicles, flow and pressure-drop testing, thermal resistance measurement and reliability testing.
- Correlate test results to models and drive design fixes to closure.
- Release designs to production: drawings, specs, BOMs and PLM release, with DFM input from suppliers.
- Manage thermal component suppliers from prototype to production: quotes, first articles, inspection and corrective actions.
- Track supplier schedules, raise risks early with a recovery plan, and follow through until builds are back on plan.
- Own quality for your parts: incoming inspection criteria, failure analysis and root-cause resolution.
- Support manufacturing partners during builds and ramp.
Required qualifications
- BS in Mechanical Engineering or related field with 8+ years of thermal engineering experience, or MS with 6+ years.
- Hands-on design of liquid cooling for high-power electronics (cold plates, loops, QDs, manifolds).
- Strong CFD and thermal modeling skills (e.g., Ansys Icepak/Fluent, FloTHERM, or Simcenter), with a track record of correlating models to test data.
- Lab experience: thermal test vehicles, instrumentation, flow loops, data acquisition.
- Working knowledge of TIMs and their failure modes (pump-out, dry-out, voiding, contact pressure).
- Experience taking hardware from concept through production release, including supplier management (quotes, first articles, corrective actions).
- A proven track record of ownership: you have taken parts or projects to production and can point to issues you drove to closure without being asked.
- Proficiency with 3D CAD (Creo or SolidWorks).
Preferred qualifications
- Experience with high-performance TIMs (e.g., liquid metal, phase change) and their qualification.
- Thermal design for very large, high-power packages (AI/HPC accelerators, 1 kW+).
- Experience with advanced attach or joining processes for thermal hardware.
- Familiarity with OCP rack and liquid cooling standards.
- Experience working with ODMs or contract manufacturers in Asia.
- MS or PhD in heat transfer or fluid mechanics.
Why Join Us?
At Eridu, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the future of AI infrastructure, working with a world-class team on groundbreaking technology that pushes the boundaries of AI performance. Your contributions will directly impact the next generation of AI infrastructure solutions, transforming the performance of AI data centers.
The starting base salary for the selected candidate will be established based on their relevant skills, experience, qualifications, work location, market trends, and the compensation of employees in comparable roles.
Notice to Recruiting Agencies
Eridu does not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate profiles from staffing agencies or third-party recruiters. Any candidate submitted to Eridu without prior written authorization from our recruiting team will be considered unsolicited and will become the property of Eridu. Eridu reserves the right to pursue and hire such candidates without any obligation to pay fees. Recruiting agencies are expressly instructed not to contact hiring managers, employees, or executives regarding open positions.
The pay range for this role is:
210,000 - 270,000 USD per year (Eridu HQ)
About Eridu
Eridu is a Silicon Valley-based hardware startup pioneering infrastructure solutions that accelerate AI data centers to deliver Faster AI. Today’s AI performance is frequently limited by communication bottlenecks. Eridu introduces multiple industry-first innovations across silicon, packaging, software, and systems to deliver an order of magnitude improvement in performance and unlock greater GPU utilization to speed training job completion times and tokens-per-second for more profitable inference. We do this while simultaneously reducing capital and power costs and improving reliability.
The company’s solutions and value proposition have been widely validated by leading hyperscalers.
Eridu has raised over $200M to date including its most recent, oversubscribed Series A round. The company is led by a veteran team of Silicon Valley executives who have delivered multiple billion dollar product lines and led multiple companies to billion dollar exits, including serial entrepreneur Drew Perkins, co-founder of Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN), Lightera (acq. by Ciena), Gainspeed (acq. by Nokia) and Mojo Vision (the world’s leading micro-LED company). The company is in execution mode and has a world-class engineering team with decades of experience in state-of-the-art silicon, packaging, optics, software, and systems. Eridu is working with best-in-class supply chain partners including silicon, packaging and systems.
About the role
Eridu AI is a well-funded startup in Saratoga, CA building next-generation hardware for AI data center networking. Our systems operate at power densities well beyond conventional networking equipment and rely on advanced liquid cooling.
As a Senior Thermal Engineer, you will own your thermal hardware end to end: design, development, test, release and delivery. Ownership is the core of this role. You drive your parts to closure, you don't wait to be asked, and when something slips or fails you take responsibility for fixing it. You will work closely with suppliers and manufacturing partners to make sure parts arrive on schedule and meet quality requirements.
What you'll do
- Own your thermal components and subsystems from concept to production. You are accountable for their schedule, cost and quality.
- Design and develop thermal hardware for liquid-cooled systems, including cold plates, coolant loop components and thermal interfaces.
- Run thermal and CFD analysis to validate designs and support design decisions.
- Build and execute test plans: thermal test vehicles, flow and pressure-drop testing, thermal resistance measurement and reliability testing.
- Correlate test results to models and drive design fixes to closure.
- Release designs to production: drawings, specs, BOMs and PLM release, with DFM input from suppliers.
- Manage thermal component suppliers from prototype to production: quotes, first articles, inspection and corrective actions.
- Track supplier schedules, raise risks early with a recovery plan, and follow through until builds are back on plan.
- Own quality for your parts: incoming inspection criteria, failure analysis and root-cause resolution.
- Support manufacturing partners during builds and ramp.
Required qualifications
- BS in Mechanical Engineering or related field with 8+ years of thermal engineering experience, or MS with 6+ years.
- Hands-on design of liquid cooling for high-power electronics (cold plates, loops, QDs, manifolds).
- Strong CFD and thermal modeling skills (e.g., Ansys Icepak/Fluent, FloTHERM, or Simcenter), with a track record of correlating models to test data.
- Lab experience: thermal test vehicles, instrumentation, flow loops, data acquisition.
- Working knowledge of TIMs and their failure modes (pump-out, dry-out, voiding, contact pressure).
- Experience taking hardware from concept through production release, including supplier management (quotes, first articles, corrective actions).
- A proven track record of ownership: you have taken parts or projects to production and can point to issues you drove to closure without being asked.
- Proficiency with 3D CAD (Creo or SolidWorks).
Preferred qualifications
- Experience with high-performance TIMs (e.g., liquid metal, phase change) and their qualification.
- Thermal design for very large, high-power packages (AI/HPC accelerators, 1 kW+).
- Experience with advanced attach or joining processes for thermal hardware.
- Familiarity with OCP rack and liquid cooling standards.
- Experience working with ODMs or contract manufacturers in Asia.
- MS or PhD in heat transfer or fluid mechanics.
Why Join Us?
At Eridu, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the future of AI infrastructure, working with a world-class team on groundbreaking technology that pushes the boundaries of AI performance. Your contributions will directly impact the next generation of AI infrastructure solutions, transforming the performance of AI data centers.
The starting base salary for the selected candidate will be established based on their relevant skills, experience, qualifications, work location, market trends, and the compensation of employees in comparable roles.
Notice to Recruiting Agencies
Eridu does not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate profiles from staffing agencies or third-party recruiters. Any candidate submitted to Eridu without prior written authorization from our recruiting team will be considered unsolicited and will become the property of Eridu. Eridu reserves the right to pursue and hire such candidates without any obligation to pay fees. Recruiting agencies are expressly instructed not to contact hiring managers, employees, or executives regarding open positions.
The pay range for this role is:
210,000 - 270,000 USD per year (Eridu HQ)
Thermal Engineer Job Roles in California
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Search Thermal Engineer Jobs in CaliforniaThermal Engineer Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies in California sponsor visas for thermal engineers?
California's semiconductor, aerospace, and clean energy sectors produce the most thermal engineer sponsorship activity. Companies including Apple, Qualcomm, Intel, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Tesla, and NVIDIA have filed Labor Condition Applications for thermal engineering roles. Defense contractors clustered around San Diego and Los Angeles and chip design firms in Silicon Valley account for a significant share of sponsorship filings in this role category.
What visa types realistically apply to thermal engineer roles in California?
Thermal engineering is a specialty occupation, so the H-1B visa is the most common path. It requires a bachelor's degree in a directly related field such as mechanical or aerospace engineering, and is subject to an annual cap and selection process. Canadian and Mexican citizens may qualify for TN visa status under the USMCA Engineer category. Australian citizens can apply for the E-3 visa, which carries a separate cap and requires an LCA filed by the employer. F-1 students may use OPT or, with a qualifying STEM-designated degree, the 24-month STEM OPT extension.
How to find thermal engineer visa sponsorship jobs in California?
Migrate Mate lists California employers with verified sponsorship filing history for thermal engineering roles, so you can focus your search on companies that have already demonstrated willingness to sponsor. Filter by city to target Silicon Valley, San Diego, or Los Angeles depending on your preferred sector. Because thermal engineering spans semiconductors, aerospace, and energy, reviewing employer filing patterns by industry on Migrate Mate helps identify where sponsorship activity is most consistent.
Which California cities have the most thermal engineer sponsorship jobs?
San Jose and the broader Silicon Valley area lead sponsorship volume, driven by semiconductor and consumer electronics firms that rely heavily on thermal management expertise. San Diego is a secondary hub, anchored by defense and wireless technology companies including Qualcomm. Los Angeles and its aerospace corridor, home to Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, also generate consistent demand. Fremont and the East Bay see activity from electric vehicle and battery technology employers.
Are there state-specific factors that affect thermal engineer sponsorship in California?
California's concentration of semiconductor fabrication, electric vehicle development, and defense contracting creates sustained demand for thermal engineers with specialized backgrounds. University pipelines from UC San Diego, Stanford, and UC Berkeley supply domestic talent, but employers in advanced packaging, power electronics, and satellite thermal control regularly sponsor international candidates when specialized skills are required. California's high cost of living is reflected in prevailing wage levels that employers must meet under LCA requirements.
What is the prevailing wage for sponsored thermal engineer jobs in California?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.