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Thermal Engineer, Rack Level

Etched· Platform
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San Jose$200k - $350kFull-timePosted 5d ago

About the role

Thermal Engineer responsible for the thermal design and validation of Etched’s L11 liquid-cooled rack system, from design through deployment, including deployment processes, CDU validation, and collaboration with cross-functional teams and customers.

Responsibilities

  • Own thermal design and validation of the L11 rack system, including the rack-level liquid loop, manifolds, quick disconnects, and interfaces to facility cooling.
  • Develop and document deployment, fill, and commissioning processes for liquid-cooled racks, from first fill and leak checks through bring-up at customer sites.
  • Validate reference CDU systems. Write and execute test plans in the lab and in the field, and qualify CDU partners on thermal performance, reliability, and controls.
  • Characterize rack-level thermal and hydraulic performance (flow distribution, pressure drop, supply and return temperatures) and use results to drive design decisions.
  • Define and validate cooling-loop control strategies and interactions with datacenter facility control systems.
  • Support GTM and customers as technical point of contact on facility integration questions (water requirements, CDU selection and sizing, secondary loop design, water quality).
  • Partner with tray and module thermal engineers to ensure server-level designs meet rack-level and facility constraints.
  • Create and maintain rack thermal specifications, commissioning procedures, validation reports, and customer-facing facility requirements documents.
  • Investigate and resolve thermal and fluid-related issues in the lab and deployed systems.

Qualifications

  • 5–10 years of experience in thermal or mechanical engineering with direct, hands-on CDU and datacenter liquid cooling experience.
  • Experience installing, commissioning, or validating liquid cooling systems at datacenter scale.
  • Experience with CDU validation and commissioning, including flow, pressure, temperature, and controls testing.
  • Strong working knowledge of datacenter cooling loops (facility water and technology cooling system / secondary loops) and the control systems that run them.
  • Comfort working directly with customers, facility teams, and suppliers to resolve integration issues.
  • Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or a related field.

Skills

Required:Thermal design and validationLiquid cooling systems in datacentersCDU validation and commissioning

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision packages with generous premium coverage
  • $500 per month credit for waiving medical benefits
  • Housing subsidy of $2k per month for those living within walking distance of the office
  • Relocation support for those moving to San Jose (Santana Row)
  • Various wellness benefits covering fitness, mental health, and more
  • Daily lunch and dinner in our office
  • Unlimited compute budget subject to ROI justification
Last updated Oct 22, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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About Etched

Etched is building frontier inference clusters: co-designs chips, racks, software and manufacturing to push the pareto frontier for AI hardware.

frontier inference clustersAI hardwarechipsrackssoftwaremanufacturingparto frontier
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