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Salary: USD 119,543 - 152,749 / annual
Varda Space Industries is building commercial space infrastructure for in-orbit manufacturing, including pharmaceutical processing systems and reentry capsules. The company designs and operates its W-Series vehicles end-to-end, including thermal systems, heat shields, and satellite buses.
As a Thermal Hardware and Test Engineer II, you will own the full lifecycle of thermal and fluid systems—from concept through design, fabrication, integration, validation, and maintenance. This is a hands-on role spanning mechanical, electrical, fluid, and control disciplines.
Key responsibilities include:
- Drive end-to-end development of thermal hardware and test infrastructure
- Develop active and passive thermal control systems (heat pipes, pumped fluid loops, thermal switches) in collaboration with thermal analysis engineers
- Conduct component-level acceptance and qualification thermal vacuum tests
- Inform manufacturing and integration of thermal/fluid hardware onto vehicles
- Evaluate hardware design impacts on packaging, thermal, environmental, and loads to optimize system-level solutions
- Architect and assemble fluid, thermal, mechanical, and electrical designs, test rigs, and fixtures
- Implement instrumentation and data acquisition (DAQ) solutions, integrating sensors, transducers, actuators, PLCs, and embedded controllers
- Generate documentation for procedures, schematics, and reports for ground test and flight hardware
- Apply first-principles thinking to diagnose issues, resolve anomalies, and optimize equipment reliability to >99% uptime
You will gain significant ownership, see contributions rapidly come to life, and help uphold the highest standards of performance, reliability, and safety. The role thrives on solving hard problems, adapting to dynamic requirements, and collaborating across multiple domains.
Requirements:
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline (or equivalent professional experience, typically 1–3+ years)
- 3+ years of experience applying engineering principles to thermal design, test, and fabrication in a manufacturing environment
- Proficiency in detailed thermal analysis using Thermal Desktop and/or SINDA/FLUINT
- Experience anchoring thermal models to test and/or flight data
- Experience planning and executing Thermal Vacuum Chamber (TVac) testing
- Experience with MATLAB (or equivalent) for data processing and task automation
- Familiarity with thermal margins and qualification test requirements per SMC-S-016
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with aptitude for interdisciplinary technical communication
- Must be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual per 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)) due to ITAR export-control requirements
Preferred:
- Hands-on fabrication skills (basic machining, welding, rapid prototyping)
- Experience with thermal analysis tools (Thermal Desktop, ANSYS)
- Proven track record of formal project management and delivering results in fast-paced environments
