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Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems and reentry capsules. The company designs and operates its W-Series vehicles end-to-end, from satellite buses to heat shields and processing payloads.
As an Automation and Controls Engineer II, you will design, build, and maintain sophisticated ground support equipment (GSE) and test systems that qualify spaceflight hardware for orbit. This includes propulsion test stands, environmental qualification chambers, and spacecraft-level integration testing infrastructure.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design and build test systems and GSE for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing operations
- Integrate with diverse external hardware: 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
- 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 rapid onboarding and reliable system maintenance
Required qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Computer, or Mechanical Engineering (or related field); 2+ years in test automation, controls, or industrial automation; hands-on experience integrating industrial hardware over EtherCAT, Modbus, RS-232/485, or similar protocols; experience with modern PLC ecosystems (ideally Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 with IEC 61131-3 structured text); comfort across the full stack (control software, electrical design, wiring, debugging); proven ability to thrive in fast-paced startup environments with shifting priorities and end-to-end ownership.
Preferred: expertise in real-time PLC versus Python orchestration tradeoffs; custom/in-house control framework experience; advanced EtherCAT skills (DC sync, ENI configuration, master implementation); production TwinCAT 3 experience; deterministic hard real-time control loops with sub-millisecond cycle times; time-series data acquisition tools (Grafana, InfluxDB); aerospace or spacecraft testing experience; environmental test experience (TVAC, thermal cycling, vibration); high-pressure gas systems experience.
