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Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems and reentry capsules. The Hardware Controls Engineer II designs, builds, and maintains 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.
Key responsibilities include designing and building test systems and GSE for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing; integrating with external hardware such as thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, pressure systems, and precision instrumentation; developing and extending Varda's internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling; contributing to architecture decisions on real-time control implementation (PLC-based TwinCAT 3 versus Linux-based approaches); building electrical cabinets and wire panels with end-to-end ownership from design through commissioning; partnering with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to deliver test infrastructure on aggressive timelines; and championing sustainable engineering practices that enable team ramp-up and system reliability.
Required qualifications include a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical field; 2+ years of industry experience in test automation, controls, and/or industrial automation; hands-on experience integrating industrial hardware over protocols such as EtherCAT, Modbus (TCP/RTU), RS-232/485 serial, or similar standards; experience with at least one modern PLC ecosystem, ideally Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 with structured text (IEC 61131-3); comfort working across the full stack (control software, electrical panel design, cabinet wiring, hardware debugging); and proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment with shifting priorities and end-to-end ownership expectations.
Preferred experience includes strong intuition for real-time PLC code versus Python orchestration tradeoffs; experience with custom or in-house control frameworks; advanced EtherCAT expertise (DC sync, ENI configuration, master implementation); production experience with TwinCAT 3 and IEC 61131-3; designing deterministic hard real-time control loops with sub-millisecond cycle times; familiarity with time-series data acquisition and visualization tools (Grafana, InfluxDB); aerospace experience in spacecraft testing or GSE development; and environmental test experience (TVAC, thermal cycling, vibration testing).
