Thermal Engineer

About the role

• General Information
• Req #
• WD00108617
• Career area: Hardware Engineering
• Country/Region: United States of America
• State: North Carolina
• City: Morrisville
• Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2026
• Working time: Full-time

Additional Locations

• United States of America - North Carolina - Morrisville

Position Overview

Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) is seeking an experienced

Thermal Engineer to lead the development and qualification of advanced thermal solutions for next-generation server and rack infrastructure deployed in cloud and AI-driven data centers. This role will be responsible for thermal architecture, CFD modeling, cooling solution development, and system-level thermal validation across compute, storage, and GPU platforms.

The ideal candidate will bring a strong background in server thermal engineering, airflow optimization, liquid and air-cooling technologies, and data-driven problem solving. This individual will work closely with cross-functional engineering teams and customers to ensure products meet thermal, performance, reliability, and production readiness requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, design, and qualify thermal solutions for rack and server infrastructure supporting cloud data centers, including compute, storage, and GPU platforms.
• Own server- and rack-level thermal architecture from concept through design validation, qualification, and production readiness.
• Design and optimize thermal management solutions utilizing both air-cooling and liquid-cooling technologies.
• Perform Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations using ANSYS Icepak, FloTHERM, or equivalent tools to evaluate airflow, pressure, heat distribution, component temperatures, and overall system performance.
• Optimize airflow, fan performance, acoustics, thermal margins, and energy efficiency at system and rack levels.
• Define thermal validation strategies, test plans, methodologies, qualification requirements, and acceptance criteria based on product and customer requirements.
• Execute thermal, airflow, power, performance, and system-level validation testing across varying workloads and environmental conditions.
• Correlate simulation models with physical test results and continuously improve thermal model accuracy and design effectiveness.
• Analyze thermal, airflow, power, telemetry, and performance data to identify trends, design limitations, and opportunities for optimization.
• Lead root-cause analysis and resolution of complex thermal and system-level issues.
• Partner with mechanical, electrical, firmware, system, validation, manufacturing, and supplier engineering teams to drive issue resolution and product readiness.
• Support customer engagements and technical reviews by presenting thermal design recommendations, risk assessments, and qualification results.
• Create and maintain engineering specifications, simulation reports, test plans, validation reports, technical presentations, and related engineering documentation.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in thermal engineering, preferably supporting server platforms, data center infrastructure, high-performance computing (HPC), AI systems, or electronics cooling applications.
• Strong understanding of server architecture and major hardware components, including CPUs, GPUs, DIMMs, NVMe storage, NICs, power supplies, and cooling subsystems.
• Deep knowledge of heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, airflow management, thermal margins, and cooling solution development.
• Hands-on experience performing server thermal, power, airflow, and performance validation testing.
• Experience using CFD and thermal simulation tools such as ANSYS Icepak, FloTHERM, or similar industry-standard platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze thermal sensor data, power measurements, system telemetry, performance metrics, and test logs to drive engineering decisions.
• Proven experience troubleshooting complex thermal and system-level issues and leading root-cause investigations.
• Strong technical documentation skills, including development of engineering specifications, simulation models, validation plans, and qualification reports.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary engineering organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Experience designing and qualifying liquid cooling solutions for high-density server, AI, or HPC deployments.
• Experience supporting rack-level thermal solutions for cloud, hyperscale, or enterprise data center environments.
• Familiarity with GPU-intensive platforms and thermal considerations for AI and accelerated computing workloads.
• Experience optimizing server acoustics, fan control strategies, airflow efficiency, and power utilization.
• Knowledge of firmware interactions related to thermal management and system cooling controls.
• Experience working directly with suppliers, ODMs, manufacturing partners, and customers on thermal design and qualification activities.
• Exposure to embedded systems, power electronics, PCB design, hardware validation, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), and advanced thermal management technologies.
• Proven ability to communicate technical concepts and design recommendations to both engineering and customer stakeholders.

Additional Locations

• United States of America
• United States of America - North Carolina

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