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Salary: USD 181,913 - 232,444 / annual
Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure for in-orbit pharmaceutical manufacturing. As Principal Fluid Systems Engineer on the Payload team, you will define and lead the development of first-of-its-kind electromechanical fluid handling hardware that manufactures pharmaceuticals in microgravity, endures hypersonic reentry, and returns to Earth for material extraction.
You will own the architecture and technical direction for pharmaceutical payloads, guiding project teams from requirements synthesis through development, on-orbit operation, recovery, and iteration for future missions. Your payloads will precisely meter, mix, filter, transport, and thermally control pharmaceutical materials in compact spacecraft-compatible hardware.
Key responsibilities include:
- Define requirements, architecture, and development plans for pharmaceutical manufacturing payloads
- Establish fluid system design standards for component selection and qualification, sealing, contamination control, thermal control, and verification/validation
- Lead project teams to develop precision fluid systems incorporating valves, pumps, pistons, manifolds, tubing, fittings, seals, filters, sensors, and thermal control systems
- Drive system-level analyses, trade studies, and risk reduction using tools such as hand calculations, Python/MATLAB models, and FEA
- Lead build and test campaigns for prototypes and flight hardware to characterize performance and reliability
- Synthesize cross-functional inputs from business development, pharmaceutical science, process engineering, and spacecraft subsystem teams
- Develop standards for subsystem requirements, interface control documents, verification plans, test reports, and recovery procedures
- Represent Varda in technical discussions with internal leadership, external partners, customers, and government stakeholders
- Lead continuous improvement and incorporation of lessons learned
- Mentor senior and entry-level engineers and shape best practices
You will collaborate closely with pharmaceutical scientists, process engineers, internal leadership, and spacecraft subsystem teams to translate mission objectives into qualified hardware that flies in months, not years. This role is ideal for engineers who combine deep mechanical and fluid systems expertise with the cross-functional breadth to define foundational in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing infrastructure.
Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL. The company was founded in 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov and is backed by investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and General Catalyst.
REQUIREMENTS:
- BS/BEng in Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics, Biomedical, Chemical, or related engineering discipline
- 7+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting electromechanical hardware
- Deep mechanical and fluid systems expertise with breadth in at least two adjacent disciplines such as avionics, software, thermal, optics, test, precision instrumentation, etc.
- Track record leading project teams through full-cycle electromechanical space flight hardware development
- Extensive experience with valves, pumps, pistons, tubing, manifolds, fittings, seals, filters, sensors, metering hardware, thermal-control hardware, and/or compact fluidic assemblies
- Excellent communication skills with customer, executive, and cross-disciplinary technical audiences
PREFERRED:
- 3+ years of cross-functional project leadership experience
- Prior full-cycle technical leadership of precision fluid-handling hardware for relevant applications (in-space: ECLSS, low-thrust propulsion, astronaut suits, spacecraft thermal control; on-Earth: semiconductor process equipment, biotech process equipment, analytical instruments, medical devices)
- Extensive experience planning and executing aerospace environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, EMI/EMC)
- Familiarity with microgravity fluid behavior, capillary-driven flows, gas/liquid separation, two-phase flow, cGMP principles, cleanroom practices, or regulated hardware environments
Note: This role requires US person status (US citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)) due to access to export-controlled items.
