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Salary: USD 169,000 - 216,000 / annual
Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems, reentry capsules, heat shields, and satellite buses. The company is accelerating the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed to manufacture life-saving pharmaceuticals and advanced materials in space.
As a Senior Spacecraft Firmware Engineer, you will be responsible for determining how Varda's spacecraft behaves and operates in orbit, developing reliable software to ensure mission success. You'll own all aspects of firmware development across the entire mission lifecycle, from requirements capture through testing and flight operational support.
Key responsibilities include:
- Developing reliable firmware to control spacecraft, satellite bus, and reentry capsule operations
- Owning all aspects of software development: design, testing, and integration
- Scoping projects, capturing requirements, and conducting 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 comprehensive software test, verification, and validation (V&V) techniques
You'll join a team of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies, and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in 2021 and is backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, and Founders Fund. The company is headquartered in El Segundo, CA, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
Required qualifications:
- 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
- Strong C++ development skills and deep understanding of language concepts
Preferred qualifications include aerospace safety-critical software experience, proficiency in Python or Rust, and strong understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, data structures, and networking.
