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Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems, reentry capsules, and satellite buses. The company operates at the intersection of space technology and orbital manufacturing, with a team of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and major pharmaceutical companies.
As a Senior Ground Systems Software Engineer, you will own critical ground segment software that enables spacecraft operations. Your responsibilities span telemetry and commanding, data acquisition and distribution, mission control interfaces, simulation and test automation, and reliable deployment across lab, test range, and mission operations environments.
Key responsibilities include:
**Ground Segment Services**: Develop and maintain high-reliability services for telemetry ingestion, scaling, distribution, and commanding. Ensure deterministic behavior for real-time operations and post-flight analysis.
**Mission Control Interfaces**: Deliver operator-grade UIs and dashboards that optimize operations time and reduce cognitive load across integration, test, and on-orbit phases.
**Simulation and Test Automation**: Build tools to run flight-software simulations, device emulators, and scenario-based automated tests, enabling fast iteration for avionics, guidance/navigation/control, and operations teams.
**Mission Platform Development**: Design, implement, and productionize software infrastructure. Standardize CI/CD pipelines, artifact management, service templates, infrastructure-as-code, simulation and hardware-in-the-loop frameworks, test harnesses, and observability as self-service tooling.
**Deployment Strategy**: Create robust deployment patterns for lab benches, test stands, and mission networks. Implement safe rollout/rollback strategies and air-gapped or limited-connectivity deployment approaches.
You will work hands-on with flight software, avionics, RF/ground systems, and mission operations teams. The role requires deep expertise in safety-critical software development, real-time systems, and the ability to bridge software engineering with aerospace operations.
