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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 Spacecraft 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 hypersonic reentry.
Key responsibilities include:
- Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to define project scopes and guide designs from concept through production, resolving conflicting requirements to achieve seamless system integration.
- Develop electrical architecture, system diagrams, and comprehensive budgets accounting for power, telemetry, channel count, size, and mass predictions.
- Conduct fault analysis and risk assessment, developing mitigation plans and Fault Detection Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) strategies.
- Create and execute comprehensive verification 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 integration of Winnebago avionics systems and serve 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, while contributing to engineering best practices and test automation.
- Mentor and train junior engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
Required qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field; at least 5 years of experience in system design, test planning, and validation; proficiency in Python programming and debugging.
