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Salary: USD 140,333 - 179,314 / annual
Varda Space Industries is accelerating commercial space infrastructure development, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable reentry capsules. The company designs, builds, and operates W-Series vehicles in-house, including pharmaceutical processing payloads, capsules, C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses.
The Senior Terrestrial Mechanical Design & Test Engineer, Automation role is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining sophisticated ground support equipment (GSE) and test systems that qualify spaceflight hardware for orbit. This is a hands-on position focused on enabling high-cadence, production-enabling equipment as the top priority.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design, build, and maintain test systems and GSE for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing operations, including data acquisition systems (Pelican DAQ, load cell DAQ, accelerometer DAQ), propulsion test stands, fill carts, thermal control systems (chillers, heaters, liquid nitrogen), PLC cabinets, and gas/liquid systems (valves, transducers, solenoids, flowmeters).
- Ensure test infrastructure achieves >99% uptime and predictable performance.
- Serve as the "Responsible Engineer" for test infrastructure including centrifuges, TVACs (thermal vacuum chambers), propulsion test stands, propellant fill carts, propellant gas benches, propellant water flow stands, and torch test stands.
- Build cabinets, wire panels, and own systems end-to-end from electrical design through commissioning.
- Integrate mechanical, electrical, fluid, and instrumentation systems into cohesive test platforms.
- Implement solutions from concept through fabrication, assembly, commissioning, and ongoing support.
- Manage both rapid R&D test setups and long-term test infrastructure improvements.
- Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to deliver test infrastructure on aggressive timelines.
- Read, deploy, and make minor edits to Varda's internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling to support evolving program needs.
- Champion sustainable engineering practices that enable new engineers to ramp quickly on the tech stack and maintain production systems reliably through thorough documentation, clear procedures, and accessible schematics.
Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with offices and a production facility where vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested. The company also has offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL. Founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov, Varda is backed by world-class investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, and Also Capital. The team includes veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies, and Silicon Valley.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related technical field.
- 5+ years of industry experience in mechanical design or industrial automation.
- Extensive experience using Solidworks, NX CAD, or comparable CAD software.
- Experience with electrical wiring for cabinets, PLCs, harnesses, connectors, etc.
- Experience with Altium or comparable electronic schematic design software (company is migrating to EPLAN).
- Hands-on experience working with high-pressure gas or fluid systems.
- Environmental test experience, including TVAC, thermal cycling, and vibration testing.
- Experience developing propulsion test stands or other complex, multi-subsystem test infrastructure.
- Hands-on experience integrating with industrial hardware over protocols such as EtherCAT, Modbus (TCP/RTU), RS-232/485 serial, or similar communication standards.
- Experience with at least one modern PLC ecosystem—ideally Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 with structured text (IEC 61131-3), or demonstrated eagerness to develop deep expertise there.
- Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment where priorities shift and end-to-end ownership of problems is expected.
PREFERRED SKILLS:
- Aerospace experience, particularly in spacecraft testing or GSE development.
- Familiarity with spacecraft qualification standards and associated documentation requirements.
- Experience developing safety-related control systems and evaluating proposed solutions for reducing safety-related risks.
- Programming experience, either low-level firmware or high-level Python.
Note: This role requires U.S. person status (U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)) due to ITAR export-control requirements.
