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Salary: USD 140,333 - 179,314 / annual
Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems, reentry capsules, and satellite buses. The company operates end-to-end from design through on-orbit operations, with leadership from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and major pharmaceutical companies.
As Senior Spacecraft Mission Operations Engineer, you will own Varda's on-orbit mission operations for the Winnie Spaceship and establish the operational framework for commercial space missions. This is a hands-on leadership role where you'll develop, coordinate, and execute complex space missions from conception through execution.
Key responsibilities include: developing and leading on-orbit missions; owning the full operations development cycle for mission-unique payloads, from mission profiles through execution; collaborating across engineering disciplines to improve mission operations and ensure success; automating operational workflows through web tools; and scaling operational capabilities to support increasing flight cadence.
You'll need 5+ years in real-time operations on complex, high-consequence systems and 3+ years developing software tools in Python, JavaScript, and/or HTML. Aerospace, electrical, or computer science background required. Preferred experience includes 5+ years with spacecraft systems, prior leadership in operations roles, in-orbit spacecraft operations experience, Git/Atlassian familiarity, and ground station network knowledge.
Varda is headquartered in El Segundo with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL. This is an on-site role in El Segundo.
