SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
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, manufactures, and operates its W-Series vehicles entirely in-house, with leadership and engineering talent drawn from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and major pharmaceutical companies.
As a Senior Firmware Engineer on the Flight Software team, you will be responsible for determining how Varda's spacecraft behaves and operates in orbit. You will own all phases of firmware development—from requirements capture and design through testing, integration, and flight operational support.
Key responsibilities include:
- Developing reliable firmware to control spacecraft, satellite bus, and reentry capsule operations throughout the entire mission lifecycle
- Owning all aspects of software development: design, testing, and integration
- Scoping projects, capturing requirements, and conducting initial design trades for open-ended problems
- Writing quality structured bare metal, RTOS, or Linux-based software for embedded processors in C++
- Building highly reliable and available software systems
- Ensuring system quality and performance through software test, verification, and validation (V&V) techniques
Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, Alabama. The company is backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and General Catalyst.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Basic 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
- Must be a "US person" (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)) due to ITAR export-control requirements
Preferred Skills:
- Experience with safety-critical software, especially for aerospace applications
- Experience with additional programming languages such as Python or Rust
- Strong understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, data structures, and computer networking
