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Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing vehicles, reentry capsules, and satellite buses. As a Senior Avionics Systems Engineer, you will lead the design, integration, and testing of avionics systems for Varda's Winnebago vehicle, ensuring mission readiness from launch through space operations and hypersonic reentry.
Key responsibilities include:
- Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to define project scopes and requirements, guiding designs from concept through prototype to full-scale production.
- Develop electrical architecture, system diagrams, and comprehensive budgets for power, telemetry, channel count, size, and mass to align vehicle solutions with company-level objectives.
- Conduct fault analysis and risk assessment, developing mitigation plans and Fault Detection Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) strategies.
- Lead comprehensive verification and validation plans for avionics systems on flight and Hardware-In-The-Loop (HITL) hardware, ensuring compliance with mission objectives.
- Participate in mission operations as an avionics specialist, determining system health, recommending corrective actions, and establishing reentry commit criteria.
- Oversee end-to-end integration of Winnebago avionics systems, serving as the primary point of contact for integrated systems investigations.
- Design, build, and operate HITL testbeds that simulate spacecraft behavior on the ground.
- Develop avionics ground infrastructure, including test racks and R&D equipment for power and communication with flight vehicles.
- Mentor junior engineers and contribute to developing engineering best practices focused on test automation and efficiency.
You will work in Varda's El Segundo headquarters, which houses the production facility where vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested. The company also maintains offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
