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Salary: USD 120,000 - 170,000 / annual
Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems, reentry capsules, and satellite buses. The company is accelerating the orbital economy by creating both products and infrastructure for space-based manufacturing.
As a Space Mission Operations Engineer, you will be a core member of the Mission Operations team, responsible for developing, coordinating, executing, and leading Varda's on-orbit missions. You will own the full operations development cycle for mission-unique payloads, from mission profile creation through execution. This is a hands-on role where you will work across engineering disciplines to solve complex, real-time operational challenges.
Key responsibilities include:
- Develop and execute on-orbit mission operations for Varda's W-Series vehicles
- Own end-to-end mission operations planning and execution for mission-unique payloads
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams (avionics, GNC, software, thermal) to ensure mission success
- Build and automate operational tools using Python, JavaScript, and web technologies to reduce manual burden
- Scale operational capabilities to support increasing flight cadence
You will bring a Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline (Aerospace, Electrical, or Computer Science preferred), 2+ years of real-time operations experience on complex, high-consequence systems, and 1+ years of software development experience in Python, JavaScript, or HTML. Familiarity with spacecraft avionics, guidance/navigation/control, software, and thermal design is essential.
Preferred qualifications include 3+ years of spacecraft systems experience, prior leadership in operations roles, in-orbit spacecraft operations experience, Git and Atlassian product experience, and familiarity with ground station networks.
Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, Alabama. The company was founded in 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov and is backed by leading investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and General Catalyst. The team includes veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies, and Silicon Valley.
