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Salary: USD 169,067 - 216,031 / annual
Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems, reentry capsules, and satellite buses. The company designs and operates all major components in-house, from heat shields to flight software.
As a Senior Embedded Software Engineer on the Flight Software team, you will be responsible for determining how Varda's spacecraft behave and operate in orbit. You will own all phases of software development—from requirements capture through design, testing, integration, and flight operational support.
Key Responsibilities:
- 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 by capturing requirements and conducting 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
Varda's team includes veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies, and Silicon Valley. The company was founded in 2021 and is backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, and Founders Fund. Headquarters and production facility are in El Segundo, CA, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
Note: This role requires U.S. person status due to ITAR export-control requirements (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or individual admitted as refugee/granted asylum).
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, math, physics, engineering, or equivalent technical experience in safety-critical software
- 5+ years of experience developing spacecraft or similar safety-critical software
- Experience developing and testing real-time embedded hardware/software systems
- Experience with C++ development and strong understanding of language concepts
Preferred Skills:
- Experience with safety-critical software, especially aerospace applications
- Additional programming languages such as Python or Rust
- Strong understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, data structures, and computer networking
