Thermal Test Engineer
Apple
Quality Assurance
Sunnyvale, CA, USA
USD 121,306-213,700 / year + Equity
Posted on May 17, 2026
At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. We're looking for an experienced Thermal Test Engineer who brings deep, hands-on expertise in thermal characterization, material evaluation, and cooling system validation. This is a role for an engineer who is equally comfortable installing thermocouples, characterizing thermal resistance and bond line behavior, building custom test fixtures, and writing the automation that turns raw data into clean, actionable results.
As a Thermal Test Engineer, you will own thermal characterization and validation for consumer hardware programs across all Apple platforms — from early module designs through shipping hardware. Day-to-day work is hands-on in the lab: instrumenting hardware, configuring test systems, running thermal test plans, and extracting clear, reliable data. Evaluate thermal interface materials for new programs, assessing thermal resistance, mechanical compliance, repeatability, and long-term reliability. Collaborate with mechanical and systems engineers to identify thermal risks and develop mitigation strategies based on test data. Document procedures, maintain equipment, and communicate findings to stakeholders. The ideal candidate interprets temperature data, understands system behavior, and can troubleshoot test setups independently.
- • Characterize and qualify thermal interface materials (TIMs) — phase change materials,
- greases, gels, graphite, and gap fillers.
- • Evaluate and benchmark cooling solutions, analyzing performance tradeoffs across form
- factors and power envelopes to inform architecture decisions.
- • Design and execute thermal characterization tests from module to system level to validate
- thermal performance across program milestones.
- • Build and maintain data tools and test fixtures that support reliable data collection and cross-
- functional decision-making.
- • Generate characterization summaries and SOPs that ensure clarity and repeatability across
- future efforts.
- • Research and implement improvements to characterization methodologies and equipment to
- expand team capabilities.
- BS in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent
- 2-5+ years of hands-on thermal testing experience in a hardware development or
- manufacturing environment — characterization work, not simulation-only roles
- Experience with thermal test equipment and instrumentation: DAQ systems (thermocouples,
- RTDs), IR thermography, airflow measurement (hot wire anemometry, flow benches), power
- supplies, and thermal test chambers
- Direct experience evaluating and qualifying thermal interface materials (TIMs): phase change
- materials, thermal greases, gels, graphite, thin films, and gap fillers; familiarity with bondline
- thickness (BLT) measurement, compression testing, and thermal property assessment.
- Demonstrated experience with multiple cooling technologies: natural convection, forced air,
- heat pipes, vapor chambers, liquid cooling, and/or thermoelectric solutions — understanding
- of tradeoffs across form factors and power envelopes
- Strong thermal engineering fundamentals: conduction, convection, and radiation heat
- transfer; junction-to-ambient thermal resistance; thermal budgeting; steady-state vs.
- transient behavior.
- Proficient in Python (or equivalent) for test automation, data acquisition scripting, and post-
- processing/visualizations.
- Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to produce clear test reports, SOPs, and
- summaries for cross-functional audiences.