SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Salary: USD 119,543 - 152,749 / annual
Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems, reentry capsules, and satellite buses. The company operates the W-Series vehicles end-to-end, from design through on-orbit operations.
As a Mission Operations Engineer II, you will be an experienced spacecraft operator responsible for developing, coordinating, executing, and leading Varda's on-orbit missions. This is a hands-on role where you will own the full operations development cycle for mission-unique payloads, from mission profile creation through execution. You will work cross-functionally with teams across engineering, software, avionics, and thermal disciplines to continuously improve mission operations and ensure mission success.
Key responsibilities include:
- Develop and execute on-orbit missions for the Winnie Spaceship and future vehicles
- Own end-to-end mission operations planning and execution for mission-unique payloads
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to optimize mission operations
- Build web-based tools and automation to reduce operational burden and improve efficiency
- Scale Varda's operational capabilities to support increasing flight cadence
You should have a Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline (Aerospace, Electrical, or Computer Science preferred) and at least 2+ years of real-time operations experience on complex, high-consequence systems. You'll need 1+ years of software development experience in Python, JavaScript, and/or HTML, plus familiarity with spacecraft avionics, guidance/navigation/control (GNC), software, and thermal design practices.
Preferred qualifications include 3+ years of spacecraft systems experience, prior leadership in operations roles, in-orbit spacecraft operations experience, Git and Atlassian tools proficiency, and ground station network familiarity.
This is an on-site role in El Segundo, CA, where Varda has its headquarters, production facility, and integration/test operations. The company also has offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
