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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 to processing payloads.
As an Automation and Controls Engineer, you will design, build, and own sophisticated ground support equipment (GSE) and test systems that qualify spaceflight hardware for orbit. This includes propulsion test stands, environmental qualification chambers, spacecraft-level integration testing, and more. You'll work with Varda's modern tech stack, including a custom PLC framework and Beckhoff EtherCAT tooling built in-house.
Key responsibilities:
- Design, build, and maintain test systems and GSE for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing operations
- Integrate with 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
- Contribute to architecture decisions on real-time control implementation, evaluating PLC-based (TwinCAT 3) versus Linux-based approaches
- Build cabinets, wire panels, and own systems end-to-end from electrical design through commissioning
- Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to deliver test infrastructure on aggressive timelines
- Champion sustainable engineering practices to enable team ramp and maintain production systems
You'll have a meaningful impact on architecture decisions and the chance to define standards that will outlast any single program. The role offers end-to-end ownership in a fast-paced startup environment with leadership and staff from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and major pharmaceutical companies.
