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Salary: USD 140,333 - 179,314 / annual
Varda Space Industries is accelerating commercial space infrastructure development, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing, reentry capsules, and satellite buses. The company builds, designs, and operates its W-Series vehicles entirely in-house, with leadership and staff from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies, and Silicon Valley.
As Senior Payload Systems Integration and Test Engineer, you will own end-to-end mission success for a diverse portfolio of payloads—both internally designed and customer-hosted. Payloads may include inertial, RF, or optical sensors; communication systems; pharmaceutical processing equipment; and instrumentation. You will serve as the technical bridge between each payload and the Varda vehicle, defining interfaces, planning and executing integration and test campaigns, coordinating in-orbit operations, and ensuring safe recovery of payload data and hardware.
Key responsibilities include:
- Act as responsible engineer for assigned payloads from initial scoping through post-flight data delivery
- Work with payload providers to understand mission objectives, derive detailed requirements, and capture interfaces in formal Interface Control Documents (ICDs)
- Formulate executable project plans from ambiguous mission concepts, coordinating with other engineering disciplines to scope and implement non-standard accommodations
- Serve as primary technical point of contact for external payload customers throughout the mission lifecycle
- Plan and execute payload-level integration and test activities: incoming inspection, functional checkouts, environmental testing (vibration, EMI/EMC, TVAC), and payload-specific verifications (leak testing, pharmaceutical process testing)
- Identify, document, troubleshoot, and resolve technical issues during integration and test
- Work with mission operations engineers to define payload flight operations, command sequences, and procedures; support on-console operations as needed
- Drive continued evolution of standard payload interfaces, accommodations, and integration workflow (documented in the Payload User Guide)
- Serve as technical resource across the team, reviewing others' work and mentoring earlier-career engineers
This role is ideal for system-minded engineers with broad cross-disciplinary background, comfortable with both concept synthesis and hands-on integration and test work.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical, Chemical, Systems Engineering, or other relevant field
- 5+ years of experience integrating and testing spacecraft, payloads, or comparably complex electro-mechanical hardware
- Experience as the named responsible engineer for at least one payload or comparable hardware element through a full program cycle, including flight or equivalent end use
- Experience developing and managing interface control documents, requirements, and verification/validation plans
- Demonstrated ability to carry multiple hardware efforts concurrently against fixed schedule milestones
- Wide technical background with knowledge in two or more of: structures, thermal management, electronics, embedded software, optics, RF systems, GNC, communication systems, fluid systems
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Comfortable working hands-on in a cleanroom with critical flight hardware; must be physically able to regularly lift 25 lbs; must be comfortable bending, stooping, and standing while working directly with hardware on the floor
- ITAR requirement: Must be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience integrating hosted or customer-furnished payloads onto a spacecraft or launch vehicle
- Hands-on experience with aerospace environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, EMI/EMC) and associated test standards (GSFC-STD-7000, SMC-S-016)
- Experience working with external partners or customers to define interfaces and coordinate joint execution
- Exposure to pharmaceutical, biomedical, or other regulated-industry hardware and quality practices
