Senior/Principal Finite Element Analyst - Thermomechanical & Structural Mechanics

Position Title: Senior/Principal Finite Element Analyst - Thermomechanical & Structural Mechanics

Position Description: Protingent Staffing has an exciting direct hire Senior/Principal Finite Element Analyst - Thermomechanical & Structural Mechanics opportunity.

Job Responsibilities:

• Develop, execute, and maintain finite element models for reactor components, structures, and mechanical systems subject to coupled thermal and mechanical loading.
• Perform linear and nonlinear structural analysis, thermal stress analysis, fatigue evaluation, buckling assessment, modal/dynamic analysis, and seismic response analysis.
• Evaluate high-temperature components and structures against applicable nuclear design codes and standards, including ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section III.
• Use NASTRAN and other commercial solvers to analyze complex load cases, boundary conditions, interfaces, and transient operating conditions.
• Support sodium-cooled reactor design by evaluating thermal gradients, pressure loads, mechanical loads, restraint loads, seismic loads, radiation effects, startup/shutdown transients, and off-normal events.
• Collaborate with thermal-hydraulics and reactor systems teams on fluid-structure interaction problems, flow-induced vibration, thermal striping, and coupled structural response.
• Translate analysis results into clear design recommendations, safety margins, test requirements, and engineering tradeoffs.
• Prepare high-quality technical reports, calculation packages, and analysis documentation for internal design reviews, licensing support, and quality-controlled engineering work.
• Establish modeling standards, verification practices, analysis templates, and review expectations for structural and thermomechanical analysis at company.
• Mentor engineers and analysts; serve as a technical authority for finite element methods, structural mechanics, and thermomechanical design evaluation.

Job Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Civil/Structural Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• 10+ years of professional finite element analysis experience in nuclear, aerospace, energy, pressure systems, defense, or another high-consequence engineering environment.
• Deep understanding of structural mechanics, thermomechanics, heat transfer, stress analysis, and finite element methods
• Strong experience with NASTRAN for structural, thermal, modal, dynamic, or coupled analysis.
• Experience evaluating pressure-retaining components, reactor internals, piping, support structures, heat exchangers, high-temperature equipment, or similar safety-critical hardware
• Working knowledge of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section III.
• Demonstrated ability to define load cases, boundary conditions, contacts/interfaces, mesh strategies, convergence checks, and model verification approaches.
• Strong engineering judgment and ability to determine whether analysis results are physically reasonable.
• Proven ability to write clear technical documentation and defend assumptions, methods, results, and conclusions in rigorous design reviews.

Preferred Job Qualifications:

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Structural Engineering, or related discipline.
• Direct experience with nuclear reactor systems, sodium-cooled reactors, advanced reactors, reactor internals, or nuclear-grade mechanical systems.
• Experience with fluid-structure interaction, flow-induced vibration, thermal striping, sloshing, acoustic loading, or coupled thermal-hydraulic/structural analysis.
• Experience evaluating structures and components exposed to neutron irradiation, radiation-induced material degradation, swelling, embrittlement, irradiation creep, or other reactor-environment effects.
• Experience with ASME Section III Division 1 or Division 5 design-by-analysis methods.
• Experience with fatigue, creep, creep-fatigue, fracture mechanics, ratcheting, shakedown, plastic collapse, or high-temperature structural design.
• Experience supporting DOE, NRC, national laboratory, or nuclear licensing projects.
• Familiarity with NQA-1, quality-controlled analysis workflows, model V&V, and configuration-controlled calculation packages.
• Experience with additional tools such as Abaqus, ANSYS Mechanical, LS-DYNA, COMSOL, Femap, HyperMesh, Simcenter 3D, or in-house analysis automation.
• Experience developing analysis automation, post-processing scripts, or standardized workflows using AI, Python, MATLAB, or similar tools.

Job Details:

• Job Type: Direct Hire
• Salary: $160-165K
• Location: Austin, TX (Onsite).
• Export control regulations require candidates to be a U.S. Citizen, U.S. Legal Permanent Resident, or of a protected person status

About Protingent: Protingent is an Award-Winning provider of top-tier Engineering and IT talent, trusted by companies at the forefront of innovation — from Software and Aerospace to AI, Clean Tech, Medical Devices, and Connected Technologies. We’re passionate about making a positive impact by connecting exceptional talent with meaningful opportunities and helping our clients build the future.