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Salary: USD 169,067 - 216,031 / annual
Varda Space Industries is accelerating commercial space infrastructure development, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable reentry capsules. The company designs, builds, and operates its W-Series vehicles in-house, including pharmaceutical processing payloads, capsules, C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses. Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, CA, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
As a Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer, you will own the full life cycle of GNC development at Varda, from design through unit testing, hardware-in-the-loop integration, on-vehicle functionality, and flight testing. You will perform system analyses including simulations and Monte Carlo studies to satisfy specifications and drive system-level architectural and business decisions. You will contribute to Varda's sophisticated multi-degree-of-freedom in-house aerospace simulation and test framework, develop and maintain design descriptions and supporting documentation, and see end-to-end execution of the GNC subsystem from initial analysis and design through vehicle integration, mission planning, flight operations, and on-orbit and reentry mission support.
Key responsibilities include: ADCS hardware performance specification (reaction wheels, torque rods, IMU/GPS, star trackers); design and implementation of autonomous satellite attitude control, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, burn planning, and atmospheric reentry algorithms; trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for space capsule reentry; development of 6-degree-of-freedom vehicle simulation using C++, Python, and MATLAB/Simulink; Monte Carlo analysis to characterize vehicle and mission performance; integration and testing of GNC sensors, actuators, and software in hardware-in-the-loop environments; design and implementation of ground tooling for automated maneuver planning; monitoring on-orbit system performance and troubleshooting; and coordination with other spacecraft operators, third-party agencies, and the US government.
REQUIREMENTS:
- B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field
- 5+ years of proven experience, or PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience
- Demonstrated knowledge in designing, modeling, testing, and flying aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems
- Highly adept software and model development skills, particularly in C++/Python
- Understanding of orbital mechanics, modeling and simulation, and software development
- Experience anchoring/fitting first principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations
- Proven system engineering and configuration management skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
PREFERRED:
- Master's degree in engineering or physics
- Experience with spacecraft attitude determination and control system design
- Experience with GMAT, POST2, or similar tools
- Understanding of multi-body dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics
- Experience developing and verifying physical models for control design, component sizing, and system performance evaluation
- Experience supporting safety-critical flight tests or spacecraft
- Ability to manage risk and provide solutions with lean and state-of-the-art software development techniques
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 ITAR export control requirements.
