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Salary: USD 144,020 - 184,026 / annual
Varda Space Industries is accelerating commercial space infrastructure development, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reentry capsules. The company designs, builds, and operates W-Series vehicles in-house, including pharmaceutical processing payloads, capsules, C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses. Varda was founded in 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov and is backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, and Founders Fund. The company is headquartered in El Segundo, CA, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
The Firmware Engineer II on the Flight Software team is responsible for determining how spacecraft behave and operate in orbit, and building reliable software to ensure mission success. This role owns all phases of development from requirements capture through testing and flight operational support.
Key responsibilities include:
- Develop reliable firmware to control spacecraft, satellite bus, and reentry capsule operations throughout the entire mission lifecycle
- Own all aspects of software development including design, testing, and integration
- Scope projects, capture requirements, and conduct initial design trades for open-ended problems
- Write quality structured bare metal, RTOS, or Linux-based software for embedded processors in C++
- Build highly reliable and available software systems
- Ensure system quality and performance through software test, verification, and validation (V&V) techniques
This is a full-time, on-site position in El Segundo, CA. The role offers competitive compensation, stock options/long-term cash awards, comprehensive health and wellness benefits including 100% company-paid medical/dental/vision insurance, flexible PTO, and professional development support.
Note: ITAR requirements apply. Candidates must be U.S. persons (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)).
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, math, physics, engineering, or equivalent technical experience in safety-critical software
- 3+ years of experience in spacecraft or similar safety-critical software development
- Experience developing and testing real-time embedded hardware/software systems
- Strong experience with C++ development and deep understanding of language concepts
- Preferred: aerospace safety-critical software experience, additional programming languages (Python, Rust), strong understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, data structures, and computer networking
