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Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems and reentry capsules. The Automation and Controls team designs and builds sophisticated ground support equipment (GSE) and test systems that qualify spaceflight hardware for orbit, including propulsion test stands, environmental qualification chambers, and spacecraft-level integration testing.
In this role, you will design, build, and own end-to-end test infrastructure. Key responsibilities include:
• Design, build, and maintain test systems and GSE for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing operations
• Integrate with diverse external hardware including thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, pressure systems, data acquisition hardware, and precision instrumentation
• Develop and extend Varda's internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling using Beckhoff TwinCAT 3
• Contribute to architecture decisions on real-time control implementation, evaluating PLC-based versus Linux-based approaches for high-frequency control
• Build electrical cabinets and wire panels, owning systems end-to-end from design through commissioning
• Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to deliver test infrastructure on aggressive timelines
• Champion sustainable engineering practices that enable team ramp-up and reliable system maintenance
You will have meaningful impact on architecture decisions and the opportunity to define standards that will outlast individual programs. The tech stack is modern, including a custom PLC framework and Beckhoff EtherCAT tooling built in-house.
Required qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field; 2+ years of industry experience in test automation, controls, or industrial automation; hands-on experience integrating industrial hardware over protocols such as EtherCAT, Modbus, or RS-232/485 serial; experience with modern PLC ecosystems (ideally Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 with IEC 61131-3 structured text); comfort working across the full stack from control software to electrical panel design and hardware debugging; proven ability to thrive in fast-paced startup environments with shifting priorities and end-to-end ownership expectations.
Preferred qualifications include strong intuition for PLC versus Python orchestration tradeoffs, experience with custom in-house control frameworks, advanced EtherCAT expertise (DC sync, ENI configuration, master implementation), production TwinCAT 3 experience, deterministic hard real-time control loop design with sub-millisecond cycle times, familiarity with time-series data tools like Grafana or InfluxDB, aerospace experience in spacecraft testing or GSE development, and environmental test experience (TVAC, thermal cycling, vibration).
