Senior CFD Engineer
Last EnergyAustin, DC
Full Time
Posted December 4, 2025
$123k - $175k· Est.
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Job Description
Last Energy is building productized nuclear plants with manufacturing-style repeatability.
Key Responsibilities
- Build and run CFD models for heat exchanger components and flow paths (headers/manifolds, distributors, tube/fin passages, shell-side features, compact HX geometries, etc.)
- Drive pressure drop and heat transfer performance predictions and trade studies (ΔP vs UA/effectiveness, temperature approach, flow distribution, hot spots)
- Develop a repeatable CFD workflow: geometry → mesh → solve → post-process → standardized report package
- Execute parametric sweeps and sensitivity analyses to support rapid iteration and design decisions
- Improve throughput by reducing model failure modes and cycle time through automation, templates, and best practices
- Translate CFD outputs into actionable design changes in collaboration with mechanical design and systems engineering
- Create or refine engineering correlations / reduced-order models (Nu, f, HTC) to feed sizing and system tools where appropriate
- Support vendor and partner alignment by clearly defining assumptions, boundary conditions, acceptance criteria, and evidence packages
Requirements
- B.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a related engineering field (M.S./PhD a plus)
- Strong fundamentals in heat transfer and fluid mechanics; comfort reasoning from first principles and sanity-checking results
- 4+ years of hands-on CFD experience in thermal-fluids applications (more experience welcomed; we can level this role)
- Experience with heat exchangers or closely related mass/heat transfer hardware (compact HX, manifolds, internal flows, finned passages, etc.)
- Proficiency in at least one major CFD solver: ANSYS Fluent/CFX, STAR-CCM+, OpenFOAM, or COMSOL
- Practical meshing and modeling judgment: boundary layers, y+, turbulence model selection, convergence criteria, grid independence
- Ability to communicate results clearly to non-CFD stakeholders and defend assumptions under schedule pressure
- Multi-phase or boiling/condensing modeling experience is a plus
- Experience with flow distribution challenges and mitigation (distributors, baffles, headers) is a plus
- Experience with flow-induced vibration considerations or coupling CFD insights to structural risk is a plus
- Python-based automation of meshing/runs/post-processing; comfort on HPC environments (Slurm/PBS) is a plus
- Experience producing decision-grade analysis packages in high-reliability industries is a plus
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