About this Role

Our pharmaceutical team is looking for a highly motivated and creative Director of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC) to lead expansion and growth of partner pharma activities toward clinical production. This role will be responsible for all CMC activities across the external drug development pipeline of Varda’s partners. Reporting to the VP, Pharma Program Management), this position requires collaboration across multiple departments and external partners to design, develop, and implement novel approaches to manufacture drug products in low Earth orbit. This is an opportunity in an exciting area of growth for Varda, the role will shape Varda’s product culture and will play a significant role in establishing the low Earth orbit economy. The ideal candidate must create and lead the CMC development team for drug products from early stage through clinical manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead all GMP CMC-related activities (biologics and small molecule) including process chemistry, drug product, analytical, and formulation from lead optimization phase through to clinical development and commercialization  
• Build and lead internal GMP CMC team with functions around process development, quality control, and quality assurance. 
• Manage external drug product manufacturing service providers and API supply chains to support clinical trial development  
• Collaborate with Varda pharma R&D teams to understand future CMC needs and handle internal tech transfers 
• Author all CMC sections of regulatory filings including FDA, EMA and other national authorities to support the conduct of clinical trials 
• Act as subject matter expert for non-clinical CMC to both preclinical and clinical development teams, interact with all internal and external stakeholders to support CMC needs 
• Ensure high-quality standards, develop SOPs, implement GMP compliance and QC/QA 
• Monitor progress and regularly report to the C-suite team 
• Manage and monitor the CMC timelines and budget 

Basic Qualifications

• 8+ years of CMC leadership experience advancing drug product development programs to successful clinical trials 
• B.S. or M.S. in life sciences such as Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related fields 
• Firm understanding of cGMP and FDA regulatory guidelines as they pertain to CMC 

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 12+ years of CMC leadership experience advancing drug product development programs to successful clinical trials 
• PhD in life sciences such as Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related fields 
• Documented evidence of prior successful CMC project leadership from early phase, late phase leading to clinical trials. 
• Experience in leading and direct management of research, analytical laboratories, process development, and manufacturing 
• Advanced understanding of cGMP and FDA regulations and guidelines relating to CMC-related areas 
• Command of global CMC-related regulatory requirements and guidelines 
• Excellent leadership, managerial and communications skills in a cross functional environment 
• Hands-on experience in managing multiple internal and external stakeholders (e.g. working with CMOs on managing drug product development) 
• Experience with writing CMC sections for regulatory filings and knowledge of current regulations in US and EU 
• Fluent communication in English, written and verbal 

Pay Range

• Salary range: $200,000 - $230,000/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role 

Fall internships will range between the months of August and December. All dates dependent upon the university schedule of the selected students. Internships are full-time and on-site in Los Angeles, CA. To be considered for this internship, candidates must be actively enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree program. 

As a Software Engineering Intern, you will contribute to the software that powers Varda’s missions across ground systems, flight and embedded software, testing and simulation, and developer platform and infrastructure. You will help build tools and services that assist engineers and operators in monitoring, commanding, and analyzing spacecraft, strengthen testing and simulation capabilities, and improve reliability and observability for mission‑critical operations.

We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, including those historically underrepresented in aerospace and software, as well as candidates from non‑traditional educational paths. If you are driven by curiosity, motivated to learn fundamentals, and excited to tackle real engineering constraints, we want to hear from you. Even if you don’t meet every preferred skill or haven’t had access to robotics teams, embedded labs, or maker spaces. We value potential, clarity of thought, and growth mindset.

What You Will Work On

At Varda, writing code is often the smaller challenge. The larger challenge is engineering systems that behave correctly under real constraints. We think about the timing, determinism, safety, reliability, and clarity of design. We value first‑principles reasoning, curiosity about how computers and networks actually work, and a disciplined approach to understanding problems at their root.

• Work with engineers building components for bare‑metal, RTOS, and Linux‑based embedded processors and learn verification and validation techniques used to ensure system quality.
• Contribute to services for telemetry ingestion, scaling, distribution, and commanding, and help build operator‑focused interfaces that reduce cognitive load during integration, testing, and on‑orbit operations.
• Build tools for flight‑software simulations, device emulators, and automated tests to enable fast, safe iteration for avionics, GNC, and mission operations teams.
• Help standardize CI/CD pipelines, artifact management, service templates, infrastructure‑as‑code, hardware‑in‑the‑loop frameworks, test harnesses, and observability tools.

Responsibilities

You will be paired with mentors across Mission Software, Flight Software, and Embedded Systems, and your projects will be matched to your skills and coursework.

• Use first‑principles reasoning to approach problems and justify design tradeoffs.
• Build Python and/or C++ tools, services, and libraries that interface with flight and ground systems, emphasizing correctness, determinism, and observability.
• Contribute to automation for simulation, hardware‑in‑the‑loop, and scenario‑based testing.
• Debug issues that cross abstraction boundaries, including OS behavior, networking, timing, and hardware‑software interactions.
• Collaborate across flight software, embedded systems, mission operations, and test teams; communicate clearly, ask clarifying questions early, and seek support when needed.

Basic Qualifications

• Proficiency in C++ and/or Python.
• Actively enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate program during the internship term.
• Understanding of core computer science fundamentals including data structures, algorithms, and operating systems.
• Ability to debug complex software issues and comfort working in Linux environments.

Preferred Skills And Experience 

• Familiarity with systems fundamentals including concurrency, networking, performance, and reliability.
• Exposure to real‑time embedded development or safety‑critical software, and a working knowledge of math and physics.
• Experience may come from coursework, personal projects, community college, bootcamps, open‑source contributions, internships, or self‑driven learning. We care more about your fundamentals, curiosity, and engineering approach than how you acquired them.
• Participation in any project work. Whether robotics, rocketry, capstone projects, personal builds, lab work, or open‑source contributions. Focus on demonstrating an interest in understanding systems beneath abstraction layers.

Relevant Coursework 

• Data Structures & Algorithms
• Operating Systems
• Computer Architecture
• Software Engineering / CS Fundamentals
• Bonus: Signals and Systems, Digital Design, Embedded Systems, Electronics

Compensation

• Hourly Rate: $37.00
• Housing stipend for interns relocating to the area
• Commuter benefit to support local transportation

Cybersecurity Analyst 

InfoSec Organization •  Reports to CISO  •  On-site 

About the Role 

We are hiring a Cybersecurity Analyst to own our day-to-day security monitoring function and produce the evidence required to achieve and maintain our cybersecurity certification. This role is the operational core of our cybersecurity organization, responsible for managing alert triage across our cybersecurity tool stack, coordinating with our managed SOC partner, documenting security events, and keeping our monitoring and incident response activities continuously evidenced and ready for review. 

This is a hands-on, high-accountability role reporting directly to the CISO. You will work closely with our InfoSec Engineer, Compliance Program Manager, and our managed security operations partner. You will help set up and monitor our security tool stack, which spans endpoint protection, network detection, secure web access, application control, and identity management. You establish the monitoring cadence that keeps our security posture visible and our compliance evidence current. 

The Immediate Mission 

You will be assisting in getting the organization assessment ready: 

• Take ownership of daily alert triage across our security tool stack, reviewing and dispositioning alerts before they age without review 
• Serve as the internal liaison to our managed SOC partner, receiving their monitoring reports, validating their outputs, and integrating their work into our compliance evidence.
• Build and maintain the incident log, ensuring every security event is captured, classified, and closed with supporting documentation.
• Produce audit log evidence demonstrating that our systems are monitored, logs are retained, and events are reviewed on a consistent schedule.
• Deliver regular monitoring reports to our compliance tracking platform, ensuring up-to-date evidence flows into our central repository.
• Coordinate with the Compliance Program Manager to ensure monitoring and incident response evidence is organized and ready for assessor review.

What You’ll Own 

Security Monitoring and Alert Triage 

• Own daily triage of alerts from our network detection platform and other security tools, reviewing, classifying, escalating, and documenting dispositions.
• Serve as the primary internal point of contact for our managed security operations partner, receiving daily and weekly alert summaries, validating completeness, and tracking open items to closure.
• Maintain the security event log, a running record of alerts, dispositions, escalations, and outcomes that serve as core compliance evidence 
• Identify patterns in alert data and surface recurring issues to the InfoSec Engineer for remediation.
• Ensure continuous monitoring coverage is documented and demonstrable, a direct requirement of the cybersecurity framework we are certifying against 

Incident Response Documentation 

• Own the incident log, documenting every security event from detection through closure, including timeline, classification, containment actions, and resolution.
• Coordinate with our managed security operations partner on incident triage, escalation, and post-incident reporting, ensuring their outputs are captured and integrated into our internal records.
• Maintain the Incident Response Plan as a living document, updating it based on lessons learned and ensuring it reflects actual operational procedures.
• Produce incident response evidence for our compliance assessment, including incident logs, escalation records, containment documentation, and post-incident reviews.
• Support the Compliance Program Manager in mapping incident documentation to the applicable compliance controls.

Log Management and Audit Evidence 

• Pull and organize log samples from our endpoint protection, network security, web access, application control, and identity management platforms, demonstrating that logging is active and coverage is comprehensive.
• Document log configuration, including retention settings, coverage scope, and alert thresholds, as evidence that our monitoring posture meets compliance requirements 
• Produce regular monitoring reports to our compliance tracking platform, ensuring the system reflects the current operational status 
• Coordinate with the InfoSec Engineer to ensure logging is enabled and configured correctly across all systems in scope.
• Maintain organized evidence packages, including log samples, triage records, and monitoring reports, ready for assessor review.

Managed SOC Coordination 

• Serve as the day-to-day operational liaison to our managed security operations partner, tracking deliverables, validating report quality, and escalating gaps to the CISO.
• Ensure monitoring outputs from our security partner are received on schedule and integrated into internal compliance records.
• Own the deliverable log, tracking what has been received, what is outstanding, and what has been incorporated into evidence packages.
• Coordinate with the Compliance Program Manager to ensure third-party security operations outputs satisfy our compliance requirements.

Continuous Monitoring and Compliance Platform 

• Maintain our compliance tracking platform as the operational source of truth for monitoring evidence, uploading reports, log reviews, and control status updates on a regular cadence 
• Support the Compliance Program Manager in maintaining continuous compliance readiness after certification 
• Flag gaps in monitoring coverage, log retention, or incident documentation to the CISO and Compliance Program Manager 
• Participate in periodic control effectiveness reviews, providing operational data and evidence to support ongoing assessments 

Basic Qualifications 

• 3 or more years in cybersecurity operations, SOC analyst, or cybersecurity monitoring role 
• Hands-on experience with endpoint protection, network detection, or security event management platforms in an operational capacity, including reviewing alerts, triaging events, and documenting outcomes 
• Demonstrated ability to write and maintain incident response documentation, such as incident logs, incident reports, and post-incident reviews 
• Experience working with or alongside a managed security operations provider, receiving their output, and integrating it into internal security operations 
• Familiarity with audit logging requirements and log review processes, including an understanding of what logging coverage means and how to demonstrate it 
• Organized, detail-oriented, and able to maintain documentation quality under day-to-day operational pressure 
• Comfortable working in a lean security organization where you own your domain independently 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Direct experience supporting a formal cybersecurity compliance effort, with an understanding of how operational security outputs map to compliance evidence 

Our current security tool stack and the experience we are looking for: 

• Endpoint protection and detection — we use CrowdStrike 
• Network detection and response — we use Darktrace 
• Secure web gateway and network security — we use Zscaler 
• Application allows listing and execution control — we use ThreatLocker 
• Identity and access management event monitoring — we use Okta 
• Compliance tracking and evidence management — we use Vanta 
• Relevant certifications are a plus but not required. We recognize Security+, CySA+, GCIA, GCIH, and CISA as strong signals for this role. Candidates working toward or eligible for CISSP are equally welcome. 
• Familiarity with compliance-driven security environments, where day-to-day monitoring and incident documentation are part of a larger audit and certification process, is a plus but not required.
• Familiarity with security information and event management platforms such as Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, or Chronicle, relevant as we continue to build out our log aggregation capabilities 
• A bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, or a related field is a plus. Equivalent hands-on experience, military cybersecurity training, or industry certifications are equally considered. 

Compensation

• Cybersecurity Analyst: $110,000 - $140,000
• Leveling and base salary are determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job
• performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to purchase company stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan

About This Role

Varda Space Industries is seeking a motivated Lab Operations Technician to support day-to-day laboratory operations. This role is critical to maintaining a clean, organized, and well-stocked lab environment, enabling scientists to work efficiently. The Lab Technician will report to the Lab Operations Manager. This is a 6 month temp position.

Key Responsibilities

Lab Maintenance and Support

• Perform glassware cleaning, drying, and autoclaving according to established protocols
• Perform routine decontamination of workspaces used for high-potency compound handling, including:
  • Biological Safety Cabinets (BSCs)
  • Ventilated Balance Enclosures (VBEs)
  • Fume Hoods
• Dispose of hazardous and contaminated waste in accordance with safety guidelines
• Maintain general lab cleanliness, including benches, shared equipment, and common areas

Inventory and Replenishment

• Monitor inventory levels and proactively replenish lab supplies across lab areas
• Place routine orders for lab supplies and consumables, or coordinate lab operations as needed
• Receive, unpack, and properly store incoming materials and chemicals

Equipment and Routine Tasks

• Perform basic troubleshooting of lab equipment and infrastructure and escalate issues when appropriate
• Perform routine upkeep tasks such as freezer defrosting and gas handling
• Assist with simple setup tasks for experiments as needed
• Prepare buffers, media, and common reagents according to established protocols

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field
• 1-3 years of experience in pharmaceutical or academic research laboratory settings
• Experienced with troubleshooting and maintenance of complex analytical instruments
• Familiarity with basic lab techniques and safety practices, including handling and disposal of chemical waste
• Ability to follow SOPs and maintain accurate records
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Comfortable performing repetitive tasks with consistency and care
• Ability to lift/move boxes (up to 50 pounds)

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field
• 3-5 years of experience in a pharmaceutical research laboratory settings
• Hands-on experience troubleshooting and maintaining analytical instrumentation, including chromatography and mass spec, spectroscopy, thermal analysis, automation, microscopy, and crystallization  (U/HPLC, CE, DLS, DSF, CD, FTIR, ELISA, MS, DSC, TGA, XRPD, Laser Diffraction)
• Previous experience working in GLP-compliant environments

Pay Range

• Pay Range: $28.00 - $40.00/per hour
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base pay is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance

About this Role

Varda Space Industries is seeking a motivated Research Associate to provide critical laboratory support for our biologics formulation team. This role will focus on preparation of stock solutions, maintenance of laboratory equipment, and execution of analytical testing to support ongoing protein formulation development activities. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in biopharmaceutical laboratory operations and familiarity with protein characterization techniques.

Key Responsibilities

Laboratory Operations & Supply Chain Support

• Prepare and maintain stock solutions for formulation development activities 
• Manage laboratory chemical inventory and coordinate with supply chain to ensure uninterrupted operations 
• Monitor equipment status and maintain laboratory instruments in working order 
• Execute solution preparation according to established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) 
• Support laboratory organization and cleanliness to maintain GLP-ready environment 

Analytical Testing & Sample Preparation

• Conduct analytical characterization of protein formulations 
• Prepare reagents, buffers, and sample sets in advance to ensure experiments run on schedule  
• Perform routine calibration, qualification, and preventive maintenance on laboratory instruments  
• Maintain accurate, GxP-compliant records in laboratory notebooks and electronic systems  
• Collaborate with Scientists on the design, setup, and pull-points of stability studies 

Team Collaboration

• Work closely with formulation scientists to anticipate laboratory needs 
• Communicate inventory requirements and potential supply issues proactively 
• Participate in team meetings and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives 

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field
• 1-3 years of experience in biopharmaceutical or academic research laboratory settings
• Hands-on experience with protein preparation and handling
• Knowledge of basic analytical techniques for protein characterization
• Strong attention to detail and ability to follow SOPs precisely
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Proficiency with electronic laboratory notebooks and data management systems

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master's degree in Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field
• Experience in formulation development or protein drug product development
• Familiarity with biophysical characterization instruments (DLS, viscometry, capillary electrophoresis)
• Previous experience working in GLP-compliant environments
• Knowledge of monoclonal antibodies or therapeutic proteins

Pay Range

• Pay Range: $28.00 - $45.00/per hour
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role 

At Varda Space Industries, we're pushing the boundaries of what's possible in space and materials science — and we’re looking for bold engineers to help us get there. As a Senior Site Reliability Engineer, you'll be critical in building, scaling, and maintaining the infrastructure that powers our systems on Earth, in orbit, and everything in between. 

We are looking for an experienced engineer with deep working knowledge of Kubernetes and containerized technologies. You are a hands-on operator and builder who applies first-principles thinking to both software delivery (DevOps) and production reliability (SRE), and thrives in complex, mission-critical environments. 

In this role, you will: 

• Solve challenging technical problems across a wide range of modern technologies. 
• Apply a software engineering mindset to automate operations and improve system reliability, scalability, and resilience 
• Design and build infrastructure that enables rapid development — from cloud-based services to embedded software running on spacecraft. 
• Shape Varda’s infrastructure strategy and drive operational excellence across containerized and modernized environments. 

Responsibilities 

• Deploy, maintain, and operate mission-critical applications and infrastructure supporting spacecraft and company-wide systems. 
• Build and evolve Infrastructure as Code (IaC) frameworks using tools such as Terraform 
• Implement and operate observability systems (metrics, logging, tracing) and actionable alerting. 
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines to enable safe, repeatable, and rapid deployments. 
• Partner with software and hardware engineers to deliver highly operable, reliable, and scalable systems and pipelines, ensuring they have the tools and infrastructure needed for rapid iteration. 
• Identify, analyze, and resolve system bottlenecks and reliability risks; perform performance tuning and implement long-term stability improvements. 
• Respond to and resolve production incidents; perform root cause analysis and drive corrective actions through blameless postmortems. 
• Rotate through the team’s on-call schedule to keep critical systems healthy and responsive. 
• Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed 
• Occasionally travel to customer sites and other Varda locations to troubleshoot, deploy, or test critical infrastructure. 

Basic Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or related STEM field with 5+ years of Site Reliability Engineering experience, or 7+ years of progressive experience in DevOps, SRE, or Systems Engineering in lieu of a degree.  
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools like Terraform to automate server provisioning and configuration management 
• Experience operating Kubernetes or similar container orchestration platforms in production environments. 
• Experience with Prometheus, Grafana, InfluxDB, or similar technologies. 
• Knowledge of software-defined networking (VPC, Subnets, Firewalls, VPNs, etc.) 
• Python, Bash, PowerShell (or similar) scripting experience  
• Positive and strong communication skills, both written and oral 

Preferred Skills and Experience 

• Experience in provisioning and managing scalable Azure cloud infrastructure using native tools and best practices 
• Experience implementing configuration management, provisioning, and workflow automation solutions via Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, and GitOps (e.g., Ansible, Salt, ArgoCD, etc). 
• Strong understanding of Linux systems and container runtimes (e.g., containerd, Docker) 
• Experience with GPU workloads or high-throughput computing. 
• Hands-on experience operating and optimizing High Performance Computing (HPC) environments, including workload schedulers such as Slurm (e.g., queue/partition design, fair-share scheduling, and cluster resource management). 
• Experience with hybrid environments (cloud + on-prem or edge systems) 
• Experience debugging distributed systems at scale (network, storage, latency) 
• Experience with databases and data modeling 

Pay Range

• Site Reliability Engineer: $153,000.00 - $185,000.00/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary are determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About this Role

Varda is seeking a Systems Engineer to fill a flight safety analyst and reentry compliance role. Joining our Mission Assurance team, you will produce the Flight Safety Analysis and regulatory strategy required for FAA Part 450 and Range Safety licensing. This is a highly cross-functional role that bridges the gap between complex engineering trades and regulatory approval. From defining safety-critical verification artifacts during design to supporting live on-console operations, you will ensure our flight hardware is verified and our reentry methodologies are mathematically sound.

Responsibilities

• Perform flight safety analyses for each mission, with a focus on failure mode trajectory modeling and debris field containment.
• Execute the technical regulatory strategy, Methods of Compliance, and safety cases for FAA launch and reentry authorizations.
• Complete vehicle-level functional hazard analyses (FHA) and failure mode and effect analyses (FMEA).
• Act as the Flight Safety responsible engineer during mission rehearsals and live recovery operations.
• Establish technical safety limits and mission rules for real-time on-console operations.
• Responsible for vehicle-level deliverables to regulatory organizations, in the service of mission reentry licenses and authorizations.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, systems engineering or related field.
• Demonstrated ownership and execution of a complex engineering project, cradle-to-grave.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and present to executives/customers/regulators.
• Strong experience with risk management methodologies and tools (FMEA, FHA, Fault Tree Analysis).
• Experience with integration of interdisciplinary systems in the aerospace industry.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated experience with FAA Part 450, expected casualty modeling, trajectory dispersion, and/or debris analysis.
• Demonstrated safety critical mission operations in aviation or space applications.
• Proven experience navigating the FCC Part 25 (Commercial) or Part 5 (Experimental) licensing process, for satellite and reentry communications.
• Dedicated to adopting a lean approach to quality without compromising safety or reliability.

Pay Range

• Salary range: $104,000 - $145,000/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role

At Varda, embedded engineers own the software that controls our spacecraft through every phase of flight. That means your work supports power-up, on‑orbit operations, atmospheric reentry, and landing. You’ll work across bare‑metal microcontrollers, embedded Linux, networked avionics, and real flight hardware. This is a hands-on role where you bring up new boards, write safety‑critical code, integrate with sensors and payloads, and ship software that goes to space on a high-cadence mission schedule.

What You’ll Do

You’ll join a small, high-performing team responsible for the embedded microcontrollers across the satellite bus, capsule, and payload subsystems. Your work directly shapes how our vehicles behave in flight and how we scale from single missions to a fleet of production spacecraft.

• Contribute to a new generation of spacecraft avionics, from early concept through hardware bringup and flight certification.
• Develop reliable, modern C++ firmware for safety‑critical systems in a bare-metal environment.
• Validate software on real hardware using hardware‑in‑the‑loop and full‑vehicle integration test environments.
• Support mission operations campaigns where your software is exercised end‑to‑end in flight.

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience developing real-time embedded software.
• Strong proficiency in C++ for embedded systems.
• Experience developing firmware for ARM microcontrollers.
• Hands-on experience bringing up hardware and writing low-level peripheral drivers.
• Familiarity with protocols such as SPI, I2C, UART/RS‑422, CAN, or Ethernet.
• Ability to read schematics, understand datasheets, and work closely with hardware engineers.
• Strong debugging skills (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG, on-target testing).
• Ability to independently own and deliver complex technical systems.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Deep familiarity with microcontroller fundamentals, such as interrupts, DMA, memory layouts, peripherals, and startup sequences.
• Strong familiarity in embedded/real-time Linux.
• Knowledge of deterministic networking and time synchronization.
• Background in safety‑critical or high‑reliability embedded systems.
• Experience integrating sensors, mixed-signal ICs, power electronics, and actuators.
• Familiarity with hardware‑in‑the‑loop test setups or multi-stage integration environments.
• Ability to lead subsystem development or mentor other engineers.
• Interest in spacecraft, robotics, or complex systems operating in harsh environments.

Pay Range

• Salary range: $160,000 - $200,000/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to receive stock options under the Company's Equity Incentive Plan

About This Role

Varda Space Industries is seeking a motivated Laboratory Technician to provide critical laboratory support for our Analytical Sciences team. This role will focus on preparation of stock solutions, sample preparation, maintenance of laboratory equipment and chemical inventory, and execution of analytical testing to support analytical method development activities. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in pharmaceutical laboratory operations and familiarity with drug product characterization techniques. This is a 6 month temp position and it can potentially lead to a full-time Research Associate position depending on performance and business needs.

Key Responsibilities

Laboratory Operations & Supply Chain Support

• Prepare and maintain stock solutions and buffers for sample prep and instrument operation
• Manage laboratory chemical inventory and coordinate with supply chain to ensure uninterrupted operations
• Monitor equipment status and maintain laboratory instruments in working order
• Execute solution preparation according to established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Support laboratory organization and cleanliness to maintain GLP-ready environment

Analytical Testing & Sample Preparation

• Perform basic analytical characterization of drug products
• Execute routine assay requests with techniques such as U/HPLC, CE, spectroscopy, CD, FTIR, ELISA, MS)
• Prepare reagents, buffers, and mobile phases in advance of scheduled experiments
• Conduct routine instrument calibration and qualification activities
• Document all activities in laboratory notebooks and electronic systems

Team Collaboration

• Work closely with analytical scientists to anticipate laboratory needs
• Interact with a routine testing request system and communicate with scientists making the requests 
• Communicate inventory requirements and potential supply issues proactively
• Participate in team meetings and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field
• 1-3 years of experience in pharmaceutical or academic research laboratory settings 
• Hands-on experience with analytical sample preparation and handling
• Knowledge of basic analytical techniques for product characterization
• Strong attention to detail and ability to follow SOPs precisely
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Proficiency with electronic laboratory notebooks and data management systems

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master's degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field
• 1-3 years of experience in pharmaceutical laboratory
• Experience in drug product development
• Familiarity with characterization instruments (U/HPLC, CE, DLS, DSF, CD, FTIR, ELISA, MS)
• Previous experience working in GLP-compliant environments
• Knowledge of monoclonal antibodies, therapeutic proteins, and/or small molecule API

Pay Range

• Pay Range: $28.00 - $40.00/per hour
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base pay is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance

About this Role

As a Mechanisms Engineer on Varda’s Payload team, you will develop electromechanical flight hardware that operates in orbit, endures hypersonic reentry, and returns to Earth for inspection and iteration. You will take full-stack responsibility for payloads across both pharmaceutical manufacturing and hypersonic reentry testbed missions—delivering flight hardware from concept through build, test, launch, and recovery.

You’ll collaborate closely with internal specialists and external partners, translate engineering requirements into flight-ready designs, and perform hands-on integration and testing to deliver hardware that flies in months, not years. This role is ideal for engineers with strong mechanical fundamentals who want to grow their breadth across thermal, fluids, avionics, software, and integration while shipping real hardware to space and back.

Responsibilities

• Own payload hardware from concept through design, integration, launch, reentry, and recovery
• Design mechanisms, structures, thermal/fluid interfaces, and electromechanical assemblies
• Run structural, thermal, and fluid analyses (hand calcs, simplified models, and FEA as needed)
• Build, instrument, and test prototypes and flight hardware
• Work across avionics, software, thermal, systems, and integration teams to define interfaces and ensure compatibility
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for assigned payloads
• Generate documentation: requirements, ICDs, procedures, test reports
• Support mission operations and post-flight teardown
• Contribute to lessons learned and continuous improvement

Basic Qualifications

• BS/BEng in Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics, or related engineering discipline
• Strong fundamentals in structures, heat transfer, fluids, and dynamics
• Hands-on experience designing, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting electromechanical hardware
• Ability to communicate effectively across disciplines

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience integrating electromechanical actuators, sensors, thermal control hardware and/or fluid control hardware
• Experience using CAD (NX preferred) and FEA (Ansys, Nastran)
• Exposure to aerospace environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, EMI/EMC)
• Customer-facing technical communication experience
• Ability to obtain a government security clearance

Pay Range

• Salary Range:
  • Engineer I: $104,000.00 - $130,000.00/per year
  • Engineer II: $114,000.00 - $145,000.00/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role

Varda Space Industries is seeking a Senior Propulsion Engineer to be responsible for ground propulsion fluid systems for Varda spacecraft.  This person will take ownership of the architecture, design, and operation of fluid systems that support spacecraft fueling, testing, and launch preparation. Your expertise will ensure the reliability and performance of systems essential to mission success.  We are looking to optimize our propulsion system for our current and future generation space vehicles. Ready to grow with us?

Responsibilities 

• Architect, design, build, and operate ground fluid systems for Varda Spacecraft
• Lead and execute propellant loading operations across multiple Varda sites
• Define and own Varda’s process for propellant handling and ensuring that commodities meet specifications for flight
• Own the ground fluids roadmap, including identification of future asset and personnel needs

Basic Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a technical field
• 6+ years in propulsion fluid system definition, design, build, and test for spacecraft or rockets
• Deep understanding of fluid system components such as pressurized hardware, tubing, fittings, seals, valves, instrumentation, etc.
• Experience authoring and executing operational procedures for test or flight
• Experience authoring and interpreting Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams
• Direct experience with fluid system manufacturing processes and installation methods
• Familiarity with 91-710 or equivalent range safety specifications
• Proficient with CAD and product lifecycle management software
• Willingness and ability to take ownership of problems and drive projects to completion
• Ability to adapt and thrive in a dynamic highly technical environment

Preferred Skills and Experience  

• 8+ years in propulsion fluid systems definition, design, build, and test for spacecraft or rockets
• Experience with spacecraft propellants
• Test or Launch Site fluid systems operations experience
• Strong technical communication skills with exception clarity in authoring work instructions, specifications, and assembly procedures

Pay Range

• Salary Range: $133,000.00 - $170,000.00/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role

At Varda, we are building the future of aerospace—rapidly, relentlessly, and at scale. The Director of Hospitality is responsible for designing and operating world-class workplace services that enable our teams to perform at their absolute best. 

This is not a traditional hospitality role. You will own the full lifecycle of employee experience across food service, workplace operations, transportation, and on-site services. Your work will directly impact productivity, morale, and our ability to execute on ambitious technical milestones. 

You will be expected to operate with urgency, remove friction, and build systems that scale with a fast-growing, high-performance engineering organization. 

This is a full-time, exempt position located in our El Segundo headquarters.

Responsibilities

• Own and scale all on-site hospitality and workplace services, including: 
  • Food service (cafeterias, micro-kitchens, catering)  
  • Employee shuttles and transportation programs  

• • Office operations and workplace experience 

• • Manage janitorial services quality control and contracts 

• • Events, team-building, and employee engagement initiatives  

• Build and manage vendor relationships with a focus on performance, cost efficiency, and reliability  

• Design high-throughput, high-quality food service supporting shift-based manufacturing teams 

• Execute services and catering/event requests, following detailed schedules and timelines, ensuring absolute guest satisfaction  

• Develop and track KPIs (cost per meal, utilization, service levels, employee satisfaction)  

• Identify and eliminate operational bottlenecks that impact employee productivity  

• Partner with Facilities, HR, Security, and Finance to deliver integrated workplace solutions 

• Support the setup, execution and breakdown of services/events including workstations, surrounding areas, dining, work, and storage spaces; ensuring safety and organization 

• Stand up new sites quickly, including greenfield builds and rapid expansions  

• Drive continuous improvement in quality, speed, and cost across all hospitality functions  

• Build and lead a high-performing team; hire, train, and develop managers and frontline staff

Basic Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalency certificate
• Culinary degree and 4+ years of industry experience; OR 6+ years of food industry experience in lieu of a culinary degree
• 10+ years of experience in a multi-outlet operation facility
• Food Managers Certification
• Best practices in food safety and sanitation 
• Proficiency in use of Microsoft Office and Outlook software
• Experience in a corporate environment
• Experience with high volume or batch cooking
• Experience leading a group of 20 or more team members
• Experience managing contracts and vendors
• Advanced knowledge of kitchen equipment and safe kitchen operations
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Ability to lift 50lbs unassisted
• Strong verbal and written skills

Preferred Skills And Qualifications

• Proficiency in use of Microsoft Office and Outlook software
• Experience in a corporate environment
• Experience with high volume or batch cooking
• Experience leading a group of 20 or more team members
• Advanced knowledge of kitchen equipment and safe kitchen operations

Pay Range

• Salary Range: $148,000 - $190,050/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role

Varda is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to serve as the primary architect for mission safety and reentry compliance. Joining our Mission Assurance team, you will lead the development of the Flight Safety Analysis and the regulatory strategy required for FAA Part 450 and Range Safety licensing. This is a highly cross-functional role that bridges the gap between complex engineering trades and regulatory approval. From defining safety-critical verification artifacts during design to supporting live on-console operations, you will ensure our flight hardware is verified and our reentry methodologies are mathematically sound.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical regulatory strategy, Means of Compliance, and safety cases for FAA launch and reentry authorizations.
• Own vehicle-level functional hazard analyses (FHA) and failure mode and effect analyses (FMEA).
• Maintain Expected Casualty and debris risk models to ensure all mission phases meet regulatory safety thresholds.
• Establish technical safety limits and mission rules for real-time on-console operations.
• Responsible for vehicle-level deliverables to regulatory organizations, in the service of mission reentry licenses and authorizations.
• Act as the Flight Safety responsible engineer during mission rehearsals and live recovery operations.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, systems engineering or related field.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant aerospace engineering experience, with a previous role involving mission assurance, fight safety, or a senior systems engineering role. 
• Demonstrated experience with FAA Part 450, expected casualty modeling, trajectory dispersion, and/or debris analysis. 
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and present to executives/customers/regulators. 
• Strong experience with risk management methodologies and tools (FMEA, FHA, Fault Tree Analysis). 
• Experience with integration of interdisciplinary systems in the aerospace industry.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated safety critical mission operations in aviation or space applications.
• Proven experience navigating the FCC Part 25 (Commercial) or Part 5 (Experimental) licensing process, for satellite and reentry communications.
• Dedicated to adopting a lean approach to quality without compromising safety or reliability.

Pay Range

• Salary range: $133,000 - $170,000/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role

Varda Space Industries is seeking an experienced spacecraft operator to join our Mission Operations team. Members of this team are exceptional communicators, adept leaders, and a jack-of-all trades capable of applying cross-discipline engineering to bespoke solutions. An ideal candidate is someone passionate to work in a startup environment where you will have the opportunity to fully own on-orbit operations and mold a unique new mission framework for operations in space.

Responsibilities

• Develop, coordinate, execute, and lead Varda's on-orbit missions
• Own the full ops development cycle for mission-unique payloads, from the creation of mission profiles through execution
• Work with teams across the company to continuously improve upon mission operations and ensure mission success
• Automate and eliminate operational burden by building webtools
• Scale up Varda's operational capabilities to support a growing flight cadence

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline, preferably Aerospace, Electrical, or Computer Science
• 2+ years of experience in a real time operations role on a complex and high consequence operation
• 1+ years of experience developing software tools in Python, Javascript, and/or HTML
• Familiarity with Avionics, GNC, Software, and Thermal design practices for spacecraft

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 3+ years of experience with spacecraft systems
• Previous operator experience in a leadership role
• Previous in-orbit spacecraft operations experience
• Previous experience with Git and Atlassian products
• Familiarity with ground stations networks

Pay Range

• Salary range: $120,000 - $170,000
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to purchase company stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan

About The Role  

We're looking for a Senior Mission Software Engineer to own and evolve Varda's critical ground segment software, and the platform it runs on, that enables spacecraft operations. This role sits at the intersection of telemetry and commanding, data acquisition and distribution, mission control interfaces, simulation and test automation, with reliable deployment across lab, test range, and mission operations environments. You'll work hands-on with flight software, avionics, RF/ground systems, and mission ops. 

What You'll Do 

Own Ground Segment Services: Develop and maintain high-reliability services for telemetry ingestion, scaling, distribution, and commanding. Ensure deterministic behavior for real-time operations and post-flight analysis. 

Mission Control Interfaces: Deliver operator-grade UIs and dashboards that optimize "ops time" and reduce cognitive load across integration, test, and on-orbit operations phases. 

Simulation and Test Automation: Build tools to run flight-software simulations, device emulators, and scenario-based automated tests - enabling fast, safe iteration for avionics, GNC, and operations teams. 

Build the Mission Platform: Design, implement, and productionize software for mission and ground software teams. Standardize CI/CD pipelines, artifact management, service templates, infrastructure-as-code, simulation and hardware-in-the-loop frameworks, test harnesses, and observability - all delivered as self-service tooling. 

Deployments Across Environments: Create robust deployment patterns for lab benches, test stands, and mission networks. Implement safe rollout/rollback strategies and air-gapped or limited-connectivity deployment approaches. 

What We're Looking For 

Required 

• Expertise in Python
• Strong systems fundamentals: concurrency, networking, performance, reliability
• Experience building real-time data acquisition, scaling, and distribution services - low-latency messaging, time-series and relational stores
• Hands-on with CI/CD, dependency/build systems, and infrastructure-as-code
• End-to-end observability: logging, metrics, tracing
• Docker/Kubernetes; release management, phased rollouts, and operational readiness for controlled networks 

Nice to Have 

• Proficiency in C++
• Proficiency with Ansible
• Experience with NiceGUI
• DAQ and closed-loop control experience (lab/test control environments)
• Prior work on CI/testing/simulation/data tools integrated with flight software teams
• Familiarity with requirements, test, and certification artifacts from safety-critical or certified workflows
• Ground systems standards; security in mission networks
• Experience building mission-grade UIs with structured command workflows, alarming, and situational awareness 

Pay Range

• Salary range: $160,000 - $200,000/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to receive stock options under the Company's Equity Incentive Plan.

About This Role

Varda supports a wide range of customers from pharmaceutical companies creating new products in microgravity, to government agencies testing new capabilities through hypersonic flight.  As a member of the mission management team, you will be responsible for ensuring we deliver on our promises. As a Senior Mission Manager, you will be the primary technical and programmatic interface for our customers and will shepherd missions from cradle to grave -- from before a contract is signed, through development, integration, launch, operations, and recovery of our customer's flown assets.  You will work cross functionally throughout the company to unblock issues for a particular customer or mission and to align resources needed to meet mission objectives.

You will coordinate with Varda personnel to deliver through all phases of mission planning, integration, testing, and verification.

This is a full-time, exempt position located in our El Segundo headquarters.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical and programmatic point of contact for our customers, helping to resolve issues, negotiate requirements and contract changes, communicate status and risks, and ensure a positive outcome for all parties.
• Lead programmatic execution of customer missions from prior to contract signature through development, integration, launch, operations, and recovery of our customer's flown assets.
• Collaborate across the company (e.g. engineering, regulatory, sales, payloads) to understand status and changes that may impact customer success and work to mitigate issues.
• Lead major customer reviews and deliverables, coordinating cross functionally to plan for, develop and deliver high quality materials and briefings.
• Support or lead, depending on the customer, development and verification of technical interface control documents
• Support our Sales team with proposal efforts to ensure new projects are appropriately scoped and aligned with strategic company vision, and that contracts are well-defined and executable.

Basic Qualifications

• Must possess and be able to maintain an active U.S. Top Secret security clearance
• Bachelor's degree or higher in an engineering or science discipline
• 7+ years of Program or Project Management experience
• Experience with US Government contracts and program execution
• Experience with spacecraft mission design, development, integration and test, launch and/or operations.
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Excellent negotiation, conflict resolution and leadership skills
• Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time
• U.S. Citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S. to conform with U.S. Government space technology export regulations under ITAR.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in an engineering field
• 8+ years of experience working with government, NASA, or commercial launch contract
• Experience with spacecraft mission design, development, integration and test, launch and/or operations.
• Experience with US Government contracts
• Full spacecraft mission project lifecycle experience (cradle-to-grave)

Pay Range

• Salary range: $160,000 - $200,000/per year.
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to purchase company stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan

About This Role 

Varda is building the infrastructure for in-space manufacturing and routine return from orbit. As Environmental Test Lab Manager, you will lead the team and facilities responsible for proving our spacecraft can survive launch, spaceflight, and return to Earth. This is a hands-on leadership role focused on executing fast, rigorous environmental test campaigns that keep flight hardware moving and missions on track.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day environmental test lab operations for spacecraft and vehicle hardware
• Plan and execute vibration, shock, thermal, and thermal vacuum test campaigns
• Partner with design, production, integration, and mission teams to define test requirements and priorities
• Build and improve lab processes, procedures, safety practices, and test readiness standards
• Manage lab technicians and test engineers while driving high standards for execution and documentation
• Own equipment readiness, calibration, maintenance, and lab capacity planning
• Support anomaly resolution, failure investigations, and test report generation
• Coordinate outside test support when needed

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical field
• 5+ years of environmental test experience on aerospace or other high-reliability hardware
• Experience with vibe, shock, thermal cycling, and TVAC testing
• Strong leadership, organization, and cross-functional communication skills
• Ability to move quickly and make sound decisions around flight hardware

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience testing spacecraft, reentry systems, or launch vehicle hardware
• Familiarity with qualification and acceptance testing in aerospace
• Background with additional test methods such as EMI/EMC, acoustics, leak, or pressure testing
• Experience scaling lab operations in a fast-paced hardware company
  

  Pay Range

  • Salary Range: $130,000 - $160,050/per year
  • This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
  • Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
  • You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role

Varda is seeking a Data Engineer to join our team. In this role, you will support the development of data pipelines, storage, security, and quality that power the organization. You will learn and contribute to the current application ecosystem and data architecture. You will collaborate with team members across functions to help identify opportunities for process or application improvements.

You will assist in the implementation of these solutions through the product life cycle from opportunity identification to support and sustainment. You will work cross-functionally with team members across Varda to support initiatives that enhance company processes, execution insight, and infrastructure robustness. Projects will include a wide range of desired outcomes, including cycle time reduction, cost reduction, improved decision making, risk reduction, and any other key operational efficiency. Your contributions will immediately impact functional operations and have an opportunity to contribute to Varda's overall growth and success. This role will report to the Director of Enterprise Applications.

This is a full-time, onsite, exempt position located in our El Segundo headquarters.

Responsibilities

• Assist in building and maintaining ELT pipelines that ingest data from ERP, CRM, PLM, QMS, and other enterprise systems.
• Support enterprise data platform and enterprise application evaluations by researching external solutions and documenting findings.
• Assist with data storage tasks, including table format standards, partitioning strategies, and interoperability across the tool ecosystem.
• Establish data quality frameworks, lineage tracking, and pipeline observability, including SLA monitoring, proactive alerting, and production-grade logging.
• Support AI/ML workflows by designing feature pipelines, clean data products, and a governed knowledge layer that keeps data semantically aligned for reliable model and agent consumption.
• Work with application engineers and functional stakeholders to help translate requirements and business logic into technical specifications and data solutions.
• Operate effectively within regulated environments where your pipelines will be subject to compliance and auditability requirements enforced by FDA GMP, ITAR, and DCAA.
• Implement and enforce modern development practices, including source control, peer review, CI/CD pipelines, and automated build/test/deploy workflows (ex, GitHub Actions).
• Leverage AI-assisted development tooling to accelerate delivery and improve personal productivity.
• Learn and apply layered data architecture patterns to organize data assets for reliability and reuse.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related fields. 
• 3+ years of experience in enterprise integration or data engineering roles (advanced degrees count towards years of experience).
• Experience with cloud data warehouse or Lakehouse platforms (ex, Snowflake, Databricks).
• Experience with relational (SQL) and non-relational (NoSQL) databases (ex, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, DynamoDB)
• Exposure to data transformation tools (ex, dbt).
• Proficiency in SQL and at least one general-purpose programming language (ex, Python).
• Exposure to Enterprise Systems such as MRP, CRM, ERP, etc.
• Foundational understanding of data modeling concepts (star schema, normalization, dimensional modeling).
• Familiarity with source control (Git) and basic CI/CD concepts.
• Ability to write clean, documented code and a willingness to learn data quality testing practices.
• Understanding of software architecture principles, data warehousing, and ELT workflows.
• Capability to gather business requirements from stakeholders and take a project from initial concept to finished product.
• Ability to work with end users to rapidly iterate on prototype applications by solving end-user issues.
• Ability to translate technical concepts to non-technical audiences for stakeholders, internal and external to the organization.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications

• Experience with database administration, including schema design, performance tuning, and query optimization.
• Experience interfacing with engineering and manufacturing groups to understand system designs and translations to data needs.
• Experience supporting AI/ML pipelines, including feature stores, training data pipelines, or model monitoring infrastructure.
• Experience in a start-up or similar high-growth environment.
• Familiarity with workflow orchestration tools (ex, Airflow).
• Exposure to aerospace, defense, or pharmaceutical data environments.
• Experience working with ERP systems deployed in a design development environment.
• Exposure to Infrastructure as Code for cloud resource provisioning (e.g., Terraform).
• Relevant platform or tooling certifications (ex, dbt Certified Developer, cloud data platform certifications).

Compensation

• Data Engineer: $130,000 - $160,000
• Leveling and base salary are determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job
• performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to purchase company stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan

About this Role

As a Principal Mechanisms Engineer on Varda’s Payload team, you will define and lead the development of complex electromechanical flight hardware that operates in orbit, endures hypersonic reentry, and returns to Earth for inspection and iteration. You will shape payload architecture across pharmaceutical manufacturing and hypersonic reentry testbed missions—guiding systems from early concept through detailed design, integration, testing, launch, and recovery. You’ll work closely with internal leadership and external partners, translating mission needs into engineering strategy and technical direction. This role is ideal for engineers with deep mechanical expertise and broad cross-disciplinary insight who want to influence system architecture, lead multi-mission efforts, and mentor engineers while delivering complex hardware on rapid flight timelines.

Responsibilities

• Define architecture, requirements, and development plans for multi-payload or multi-mission systems
• Lead complex mechanism and electromechanical subsystem design efforts
• Drive system-level analyses, trade studies, and risk reduction using a variety of tools (hand calcs, python/matlab models, FEA, etc. as needed)
• Lead cross-functional project teams across avionics, software, thermal, systems, integration
• Represent Varda to senior internal  leadership and external partners
• Drive subsystem requirements, ICDs, verification plans, and documentation
• Lead build, integration, testing, mission operations, recovery, and anomaly resolution
• Guide lessons-learned processes and influence payload development cycles
• Mentor senior and entry-level engineers and shape best practices

Basic Qualifications

• BS/BEng in Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics, or related field
• 7+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting electromechanical hardware
• Deep mechanical expertise with breadth in at least two adjacent disciplines (avionics, software, thermal, optics, test, etc.)
• Track record leading teams through full cycle electromechanical space flight hardware development
• Experience communicating with diverse technical and executive audiences, both internal and external

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 3+ years of cross-functional project leadership experience
• Significant experience planning and executing aerospace environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, EMI/EMC)
• Experience leading government-facing technical programs
• Active Secret or Top Secret clearance

Pay Range

• Salary range: $170,000 - $220,000/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About this Role 

As a Varda Avionics Hardware Engineer, you will design, manufacture, test, and represent electrical components used to fly and manufacture products in space. In this role you will have immense ownership of hardware through all lifecycle phases. Get excited to deliver and test products that will go to space and back! 

Some people say that you only have one chance to fly to space so you must be certain it will work. At Varda, we believe that the trip to space and back is the easiest trip our hardware takes. We stress our components above and beyond the levels it should expect to see in flight, and we investigate our failures thoroughly. Come join our team and build quality electronics that you love to see fly over and over again. 

Responsibilities 

• Develop mixed-signal designs and shepherd them through the full product lifecycle including requirements definition, design, development, qualification, and release to production 
• Support avionics architecture trade studies, analyses, performance characterization and specification, device selection, and roadmap direction 
• Support risk analyses, design for test/manufacture/cost, and root-cause analysis of test discrepancies
• Design electrical circuit boards
• Collaborate on mechanical design fit, form, and function
• Functionally test your hardware through thermal, vibe, shock, TVAC, and EMI
• Write vehicle level integration test plans to validate for flight
• Perform root cause analysis for test failures and develop mitigation strategies for flight risks
• Example of Avionics Products you'll be working on: flight computers, networking, star trackers, reaction wheels, magnetorquers, payload controllers, battery packs, solar charger, RF transceiver and decoder\ 

Basic Qualifications 

• B.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineer or related field
• 3+ years of direct experience in electronics hardware development 
• Demonstrated experience developing electrical circuit boards and delivering a working product 
• Strong sense of ownership and responsibility for components you contribute towards
• Strong hands-on experience with oscilloscopes, function generators, benchtop digital multimeters, and power supplies
• Understanding of analog/digital filtering, mixed-signal circuit design, analysis, and test
• Knowledge of signal integrity, power, grounding, and general board layout principles
• Experience programming in Python, MATLAB, or another scripting/data analysis language 
• Understanding of sensor and actuator technologies including: RTD’s, pressure transducers, DC brushless motors, solenoid valves, thermocouples, hydraulic servo valves, LVDT, RVDT, Rotary/Linear Encoders
• Don’t worry if you don’t check 100% of these boxes... We want to meet you! 

Preferred Skills and Experience 

• Demonstrated experience in delivering flight avionics for aircraft, launch vehicles, or other space applications 
• Schematic and layout experience using Altium Designer
• Strong understanding and experience in environmental testing, such as vibration, shock, thermal, and TVAC
• Direct experience in launch vehicle avionics systems integration
• Experience with high and low speed instrumentation and data acquisition
• Firm understanding of instrumentation, interfaces and sensors including power supplies, serial devices, switch topologies, accelerometers, and 4-20mA sensors 

Pay Range

• Salary range: $100,000 - $165,000  
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
  
  

About this role 

As a Principal Avionics Hardware Engineer at Varda, you will be the architect and designer of flight critical electrical hardware for our satellite bus, reentry vehicle, and customer payloads. Some examples include our flight computers, satellite power systems, sensors for navigation and monitoring pharmaceutical manufacturing. You will define subsystem requirements based on high level mission and company objectives, design to those requirements, and ensure the system as manufactured meets those requirements. In addition to designing and building electrical hardware, you will define its safe operating criteria and support our mission operations team on the risk tradeoffs of operating near the bounds of those criteria.  

At Varda, we believe that the trip to space and back is the easiest trip our hardware takes. We stress our components above and beyond the levels it should expect to see in flight and investigate our failures thoroughly. 

Responsibilities 

• PCB level electronics design at all lifecycle stages, from schematic capture, to layout, to design validation, fabrication/assembly, and manufacturing test. 

• Distilling high level company or mission objectives into requirements, designs, and developmental milestones for your subsystems. 

• Avionics subject matter expert for satellite, reentry vehicle, and payload hardware. Providing support to those using your products, namely the Varda GNC, pharmaceutical, mission operations, and integration teams. 

• Actively collaborate with cross functional teams such as flight software, thermal, GNC, and structures to determine across vehicle system impacts of design decisions. 

• Ownership of product acceptance and qualification testing for space environments (Thermal, Vibe, Shock, TVAC, and EMI) with support from the Avionics Test team. 

• Provide direction on system-level integration test plans to verify your hardware performs as expected at the vehicle level 

• Perform root cause analysis on test failures and implement holistic mitigation strategies for flight risks. 

• Mentor junior engineers on their projects, challenges, and design methodologies setting a high bar for the future leaders of Varda.  

Basic Qualifications:  

• B.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineering or related engineering discipline.  

• 5+ years of direct experience in electronics hardware development. 

• Demonstrated experience contributing to complex electronics systems from design to launch (to space or otherwise). 

• Demonstrable knowledge of signal integrity, power and grounding board layout principles. 

• Strong hands-on lab experience with oscilloscopes, function generators, benchtop digital multimeters, and power supplies. 

• Experience programming in Python, MATLAB, or another scripting/data analysis language. 

• Demonstrated experience implementing the hardware layer of numerous on-board and over-harness communication protocols such as SPI, RS422, and 1000BASE-T.  

• Experience designing analog/digital filtering and mixed-signal circuits.  

• Power electronics design experience including load switches and switch mode DC:DC converters. 

Preferred Skills & Experience: 

• Industry leading electronic circuit design and analysis skills 

• Strong supporting general knowledge in physics, math, and chemistry fundamentals for designing electronics that experience unique environments 

• Understanding of aerospace sensor and actuator technologies including: RTDs, pressure transducers, brushless motors, solenoid valves, thermocouples, stepper motors, and rotary/linear Encoders. 

Pay Range: 

• Salary range: $160-$200K   
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
  
  

About This Role 

Summer internships will range between the months of May and August. All dates dependent upon the university schedule of the selected students. Internships are full-time and on-site in Los Angeles, CA.

We are hiring a summer cybersecurity intern to help our Information security team with day to day work. You will help us watch for security alerts, write things down clearly, and gather the paperwork we need for our upcoming cybersecurity certification.

This is a real job, not busywork. You will look at real alerts, write real reports, and help us get ready for a real audit. You will sit with our Cybersecurity Analyst and our InfoSec Engineer, and you will learn how a security team works inside a company.

If you do well this summer, we will strongly consider you for a full-time junior analyst role after you graduate

Responsibilities

Working with the Cybersecurity Analyst, you will:

• Help review security alerts that come in each day. You will read them, decide what they are, and write down what you did about them.

• Help set up, fine tune, and improve the way our security tools are configured. These tools include Zscaler, CrowdStrike, ThreatLocker, Darktrace, and AlienVault. You will work with your lead to adjust settings, clean up noisy alerts, and make sure each tool is doing its job well.

• Help keep our security event logs up to date, so we have a clear record of what happened and how it was handled.

• Pull sample logs from our security tools and organize them, so we can show an auditor that we are watching the right things.

• Help keep track of the reports we get from our outside security partner, making sure they arrive on time and get filed in the right place.

• Help upload reports and updates into the software we use to track our compliance work.

• Work on one bigger summer project that you own from start to finish. You will pick this with your lead in the first week. Some examples: a report on gaps in our logging, a refreshed incident response guide, or a simple dashboard.

What You Will Learn

• How a information security team runs its day to day work when the company has to pass a security audit.

• How the things we do every day (looking at alerts, writing things down, storing logs) turn into the proof an auditor wants to see.

• Hands on use of real security tools that protect computers, networks, web traffic, software, and user accounts. You will get real practice setting up and improving tools like Zscaler, CrowdStrike, ThreatLocker, Darktrace, and AlienVault.

• How to write clearly about technical problems so that people who are not technical can still understand you.

• How the different people on a informaiton security team work together: the InfoSec Head, the analyst, the engineer, the compliance manager, and our outside security partners.

What We Are Looking For

• You are a current undergrad in cybersecurity, computer science, information technology, information systems, or a similar major. You will be a rising junior or rising senior this coming fall.

• You plan to graduate between December 2026 and June 2027.

• You have taken classes or taught yourself at least two of these: networking, how operating systems work, how user accounts and passwords are managed, how to respond to security incidents, or how to watch for security problems.

• You are comfortable reading logs and working with data in a spreadsheet. You know what a basic script is, even if you have not written many.

• You write clearly. You will be writing notes and reports that other people rely on.

• You are organized, you pay attention to details, and you are willing to ask questions when something is unclear.

• You are allowed to work in the United States for the full length of the internship without needing us to sponsor a visa.

Nice to Have (Not Required)

• You are working toward a beginner certification like CompTIA Security Plus or Network Plus.

• You have played with security tools on your own, in a home lab, in a school club, or in a capture the flag competition.

• You have used or read about any of these tools: Zscaler, CrowdStrike, ThreatLocker, Darktrace, AlienVault, Okta, or Vanta.

• You have heard of compliance frameworks like NIST 800 171, NIST 800 53, ISO 27001, or CMMC and understand the basics.

• You can write simple scripts in Python, PowerShell, or Bash.

About this Role

As Director, Mechanisms Engineering - Pharmaceutical Payloads at Varda, you will build and lead the team responsible for Varda's in-orbit pharmaceutical manufacturing payloads—the core of Varda's commercial business. This role combines deep technical authority with team leadership, product definition, and development execution responsibility. You will own the successful development and flight of precision electromechanical fluid-handling systems that process and crystallize pharmaceutical compounds in microgravity—then survive hypersonic reentry and return to Earth for product recovery and hardware iteration. The payloads your team designs, builds, and flies will directly determine whether in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing becomes a commercial reality.

You will build and grow a team of payload engineers responsible for individual pharmaceutical payload missions while also owning the technical definition and evolution of Varda's pharma payload product line. This includes defining the system architecture, fluid system design philosophy, and development approach, and establishing the engineering standards and processes that enable reliable execution as Varda scales in both cadence and scope.

You'll expand Varda's pharmaceutical payload capability to a scaled, repeatable product line—building the team, technical standards, and development processes to get there.

This role is ideal for a technically exceptional leader who wants to build an elite team and own the first ever industrial manufacturing capability in space from strategy through execution.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead a team of payload engineers, each responsible for executing individual pharmaceutical payload missions
• Mentor engineers and develop future technical and people leaders
• Own the pharmaceutical payload development roadmap—expanding Varda's pharmaceutical product portfolio, driving design iteration from flight data, and scaling mission cadence
• Own pharmaceutical payload engineering execution against company goals and customer contracts, including schedule, cost, and technical performance
• Manage a portfolio of concurrent payload development efforts and recurring mission executions, ensuring schedule, technical performance, and engineering quality across the portfolio
• Define and maintain standards for payload design, analysis, integration, testing, mission execution, documentation, and project management
• Work closely with avionics, software, thermal, systems, integration, and vehicle teams to define payload interfaces and constraints
• Standardize processes for environmental test campaigns, mission operations, post-flight hardware inspection, and anomaly resolution
• Drive continuous improvement through lessons learned and feedback from flight programs

Basic Qualifications

• BS/BEng in Mechanical, Aerospace, Biomedical, Mechatronics, or a related engineering discipline
• 10+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and delivering complex electromechanical hardware involving precision fluid handling
• 3+ years of experience leading teams through full-cycle hardware development
• Experience with electromechanical fluid systems in high-reliability or extreme environments (space, life support, medical devices, semiconductor process equipment, bioprocess systems)
• Breadth across at least two adjacent hardware disciplines (e.g., avionics, mechanisms, software, structures, thermal, optics, test, etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to set technical direction and deliver results through other engineers
• Track record managing multiple concurrent engineering development efforts
• Experience establishing and enforcing technical and programmatic standards across teams
• Exceptional communication ability with diverse technical and executive audiences

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Professional or academic exposure to chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, or a related process engineering discipline
• Experience building, scaling, or managing hardware engineering teams
• Experience owning technical roadmaps or standardized hardware product offerings
• Experience developing or operating hardware for pharmaceutical, bioprocess, or sterile/cleanroom manufacturing applications
• Familiarity with microgravity fluid behavior, capillary-driven flows, or two-phase fluid management
• Familiarity with cGMP principles or regulated hardware environments
• Significant experience planning and executing environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, EMI/EMC)

Pay Range

• Salary range: $200,000 - $250,000/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About this Role

As a Senior Mechanisms Engineer on Varda’s Payload team, you will develop electromechanical flight hardware that operates in orbit, endures hypersonic reentry, and returns to Earth for inspection and iteration. You will own multi-payload missions across both pharmaceutical manufacturing and hypersonic reentry testbed missions—driving hardware from concept through design, analysis, build, test, launch, and recovery.

You’ll collaborate closely with internal specialists and external partners, translate high-level mission objectives into system designs and analyses, and perform hands-on integration and testing to deliver hardware that flies in months, not years. This role is ideal for engineers who pair strong mechanical expertise with the breadth to drive cross-functional efforts and the desire to deliver complex hardware on fast development cycles.

Responsibilities

• Own multi-payload missions from concept through design, integration, launch, reentry, and recovery
• Lead the design of mechanisms, structures, thermal/fluid interfaces, and electromechanical assemblies
• Independently perform structural, thermal, and fluid analyses (hand calcs, python/matlab models, and FEA as needed)
• Build, instrument, and test prototypes and flight hardware
• Coordinate cross-functional inputs (avionics, software, thermal, systems, integration)
• Serve as primary technical interface for multi-payload missions or complex payload development
• Drive subsystem requirements, ICDs, verification plans, and documentation
• Lead mission operations and post-flight teardown
• Lead incorporation of lessons learned and continuous improvement
• Mentor entry-level engineers and interns

Basic Qualifications

• BS/BEng in Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics, or related field
• 4+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting electromechanical hardware
• Strong mechanical expertise with breadth in at least one adjacent discipline (avionics, software, thermal, optics, test, etc.)
• Experience delivering hardware into rigorous environments (aerospace, defense, medical, automotive, etc.)
• Ability to independently define tasks, manage schedules, and deliver integrated hardware
• Excellent cross-discipline communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior full cycle ownership of space flight hardware
• Experience integrating electromechanical actuators, sensors, thermal control hardware and/or fluid control hardware
• Experience planning and executing aerospace environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, EMI/EMC)
• Customer-facing technical communication experience
• Active Secret or Top Secret clearance

Pay Range

• Salary Range: $133,000.00 - $170,000.00 per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role

As a Supply Chain Engineer, you'll be instrumental in ensuring the seamless integration of engineering and manufacturing capabilities with our supplier network. You'll collaborate closely with supply chain, engineering, and production teams to ensure that our suppliers can meet our rigorous standards and deliver components that align with our design specifications. This role will involve both hands-on evaluation of supplier processes and strategic initiatives to enhance supplier performance. You'll be responsible for assessing manufacturing capabilities, interpreting engineering drawings, and driving improvements that support our mission as we continue to innovate and expand. 

This is a full-time onsite role based in our El Segundo headquarters.

Responsibilities

• Own supplier quality – create framework for Varda’s supplier quality programs
• Collaborate with engineering teams on new product introduction and R&D projects, providing Designed for Manufacturability (DFM) input and supplier selection throughout the development lifecycle
• Work closely with the supply chain team to evaluate potential suppliers, conduct supplier audits, and assess their capabilities, and quality control processes
• Define and implement robust quality requirements for suppliers, including specifications, inspection and acceptance criteria, in collaboration with engineering and operations teams
• Build relationships with suppliers to drive continuous improvement of quality control processes
• Investigate and resolve supplier quality issues through root cause analysis and corrective actions
• Participate in design reviews, risk assessments, and qualification activities to ensure supplier quality considerations are addressed during the product development lifecycle
• Stay updated with industry trends, standards, and regulations related to supplier quality and manufacturing in the aerospace sector  

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical field (mechanical, aerospace, electrical, etc.)
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in supplier quality engineering, preferably in the aerospace, automotive, or high-performance engineering industries
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with a keen attention to detail
• Knowledge of quality tools such as FMEA, DMAIC, 8D, etc.
• Understanding of engineering models and drawings
• Ability to travel 25-50% of the time  

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, and enthusiasm for Varda’s spirit of innovation and drive for improving reliability in cutting-edge technology
• Proven ability to evaluate supplier capabilities, conduct audits, and drive continuous improvement of supplier quality control processes
• Proficiency in quality management systems such as AS9100 or ISO 9001, and familiarity with other relevant quality standards and regulations
• Familiarity with space system components and materials, including mechanical, electrical, and electronic components, and their associated quality requirements
• Thorough understanding of GD&T (ANSI Y14.5-2009 or 2018)  

Pay Range

• Base Salary Range: 
  • Eng II: $110,000-130,000 
  • Senior: $130,000-160,000 
  • Principal: $160,000-180,000 
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards 
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA

About this role 

As a Principal Avionics Hardware Engineer at Varda, you will be the architect and designer of flight critical electrical hardware for our satellite bus, reentry vehicle, and customer payloads. Some examples include our flight computers, satellite power systems, sensors for navigation and monitoring pharmaceutical manufacturing. You will define subsystem requirements based on high level mission and company objectives, design to those requirements, and ensure the system as manufactured meets those requirements. In addition to designing and building electrical hardware, you will define its safe operating criteria and support our mission operations team on the risk tradeoffs of operating near the bounds of those criteria.  

At Varda, we believe that the trip to space and back is the easiest trip our hardware takes. We stress our components above and beyond the levels it should expect to see in flight and investigate our failures thoroughly. 

Responsibilities 

• PCB level electronics design at all lifecycle stages, from schematic capture, to layout, to design validation, fabrication/assembly, and manufacturing test. 

• Distilling high level company or mission objectives into requirements, designs, and developmental milestones for your subsystems. 

• Avionics subject matter expert for satellite, reentry vehicle, and payload hardware. Providing support to those using your products, namely the Varda GNC, pharmaceutical, mission operations, and integration teams. 

• Actively collaborate with cross functional teams such as flight software, thermal, GNC, and structures to determine across vehicle system impacts of design decisions. 

• Ownership of product acceptance and qualification testing for space environments (Thermal, Vibe, Shock, TVAC, and EMI) with support from the Avionics Test team. 

• Provide direction on system-level integration test plans to verify your hardware performs as expected at the vehicle level 

• Perform root cause analysis on test failures and implement holistic mitigation strategies for flight risks. 

• Mentor junior engineers on their projects, challenges, and design methodologies setting a high bar for the future leaders of Varda.  

Basic Qualifications:  

• B.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineering or related engineering discipline.  

• 8+ years of direct experience in electronics hardware development. 

• Demonstrated experience contributing to complex electronics systems from design to launch (to space or otherwise). 

• Demonstrable knowledge of signal integrity, power and grounding board layout principles. 

• Strong hands-on lab experience with oscilloscopes, function generators, benchtop digital multimeters, and power supplies. 

• Experience programming in Python, MATLAB, or another scripting/data analysis language. 

• Demonstrated experience implementing the hardware layer of numerous on-board and over-harness communication protocols such as SPI, RS422, and 1000BASE-T.  

• Experience designing analog/digital filtering and mixed-signal circuits.  

• Power electronics design experience including load switches and switch mode DC:DC converters. 

Preferred Skills & Experience: 

• Industry leading electronic circuit design and analysis skills 

• Strong supporting general knowledge in physics, math, and chemistry fundamentals for designing electronics that experience unique environments 

• Understanding of aerospace sensor and actuator technologies including: RTDs, pressure transducers, brushless motors, solenoid valves, thermocouples, stepper motors, and rotary/linear Encoders. 

Pay Range: 

• Salary range: $225K - $275K   
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
  
  

Engineering Applications Engineer

About This Role

Varda is seeking an Engineering Applications Engineer to join our team. In this role, you will be responsible for leading efforts to develop, deploy, improve, and manage all Engineering applications. You will manage the implementation of these solutions through the entire product life cycle from opportunity identification to support and sustainment. You will work cross-functionally with multiple engineering teams across Varda to ensure tools are integrated, compliant, and scaled to support hardware and software development workflows. Projects will include a wide range of desired outcomes, including cycle time reduction, cost reduction, improved decision making, risk reduction, configuration control, and any other key operational efficiency. Your contributions will immediately impact engineering operations and have an opportunity to contribute to Varda's overall growth and success. This role will report to the Director of Enterprise Applications.

(This is a full-time, exempt onsite position located in our El Segundo headquarters.)

Responsibilities

• Serve as the single point of accountability for engineering systems (PLM, CAD/PDM, MBSE, engineering change management, and similar platforms).
• Administer and optimize engineering platforms across daily operations, ensuring data integrity, configuration control, and compliance alignment.
• Design and build custom analytics dashboards and reports using tools like Power BI, SQL, and Python to surface actionable insights for engineering and manufacturing stakeholders.
• Map, document, and re-engineer engineering workflows to eliminate manual bottlenecks, reduce cycle times, and improve data capture at the source.
• Develop and maintain internal applications (low-code/no-code and custom-built) that automate repetitive tasks and augment decision-making across engineering workflows.
• Build and ingest ETL pipelines that connect engineering tools into the broader enterprise data layer.
• Support compliance documentation for engineering systems and processes, including AS9100 and CMMC validation workflows.
• Triage and resolve application issues, coordinate with vendors on escalations, and manage release cycles for system updates and patches.
• Create training materials and lead hands-on enablement sessions to drive user adoption and reduce shadow IT across engineering teams.
• Evaluate, pilot, and deploy AI-powered and generative tools to enterprise standards, managing their lifecycle and governance.
• Own data governance and quality standards for engineering data, defining data owners, enforcing naming conventions, and monitoring data lineage across systems.
• Assist IT and Infosec with permission-based access, tracking, and compliance.
• Evaluate new tools, platforms, and vendors to support make/buy decisions and ensure engineering systems integrate cleanly into the broader enterprise architecture.
• Track and report on system health, adoption KPIs, and project status to engineering leadership and enterprise stakeholders.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 3+ years of experience supporting or managing enterprise engineering applications (PLM, CAD/PDM, MBSE, or engineering change management tools).
• Capability to gather business requirements from stakeholders and take a project from initial concept to finished product.
• Ability to work with end users to rapidly iterate prototype applications by solving end-user issues.
• Hands-on experience with business process mapping and re-engineering using structured methodologies.
• Ability to work independently as the sole technical resource within a business unit, managing competing priorities without day-to-day technical oversight.
• Ability to translate technical concepts to non-technical audiences for stakeholders, internal and external to the organization.
• Proficiency in SQL and at least one scripting/programming language (Python, JavaScript, or similar).
• Demonstrated experience building reports and dashboards in a BI platform (Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent).
• Familiarity with engineering data domains (BOM structures, CAD metadata, change order workflows) and willingness to develop deep expertise in aerospace engineering data standards.
• Familiarity with data integration patterns (ETL/ELT) and tools such as Alteryx, dbt, SSIS, or Informatica.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to produce system design documentation, SOPs, and training materials for non-technical engineering stakeholders.
• Familiarity with AI/ML concepts and hands-on experience using LLM-based tools in a professional setting.
• Familiarity with version control systems (Git) and software development lifecycle fundamentals, including code review and CI/CD practices.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications

• Graduate degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related fields.
• Direct experience administering PLM platforms (Teamcenter, Windchill, Arena) or CAD data management systems (SolidWorks PDM, Vault).
• Experience with MBSE toolchains (CAMEO, Capella) and engineering change management workflows.
• Experience with AS9100 and/or CMMC compliance documentation and audit support.
• Proficiency with low-code/no-code platforms (Alteryx, Power Apps, or similar) for rapid application development.
• Experience with cloud data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, AWS Redshift) and modern ELT architectures.
• Experience with Microsoft products (Teams, Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket) and their APIs.
• Proven track record of architecting and sustaining AI-powered solutions that drove measurable adoption across large user populations.
• Experience with aerospace and defense enterprise systems, manufacturing workflows, or supply chain operations.
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), Project Management Professional (PMP), or Lean Six Sigma certification.
• Track record of building workflow automation or custom tooling that eliminated manual processes, with quantifiable outcomes such as hours saved, error reduction, or user adoption metrics in a regulated environment.
• Experience conducting or contributing to platform trade studies or build-vs-buy evaluations for data infrastructure.

Compensation

• $120,000 - $160,000
• Leveling and base salary are determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job
• performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to purchase company stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan

About This Role

Preferred Skills

• Experience in the aerospace or manufacturing industry.
• Familiarity with procurement software and tools.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities.

Pay Range

• Salary range: $80,000 - 120,000/per year
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA

About This Role

Varda is building the world's first space-based manufacturing platform, and we need an exceptional Senior Technical Recruiter to scale our engineering teams. Reporting to a Recruiting Manager, you will own end-to-end recruiting across key hardware and engineering disciplines: autonomous systems, propulsion, thermal, mechanical engineering, and structures. This is a strategic operator role — you'll build hiring strategies, execute full-cycle search processes, close senior-level talent, and serve as a trusted advisor to engineering leadership as we scale from startup to production.

What You'll Own

Strategic Leadership

• Design and execute recruiting strategies for engineering hiring across autonomous systems, propulsion, thermal, mechanical engineering, and structures
• Partner with engineering leadership to forecast hiring needs, set technical bars, and build world-class teams
• Build and optimize end-to-end hiring processes that balance speed, quality, and candidate experience
• Serve as the internal expert on engineering talent markets, compensation trends, and competitive intelligence

Full-Cycle Execution

• Source, screen, and close engineering talent through multiple channels: active search, referrals, passive outreach, and technical communities
• Manage 4-8 active searches simultaneously while maintaining exceptional candidate and hiring manager experience
• Conduct technical recruiter screens to assess engineering fundamentals, systems thinking, and hardware integration experience
• Lead offer strategy and close negotiations
• Own candidate experience from first touch through onboarding

Process & Systems

• Maintain recruiting infrastructure in Greenhouse (ATS)
• Partner with the Recruiting Operations Partner to continuously improve hiring processes and candidate assessment frameworks

What Success Looks Like

• Consistently deliver high-quality engineering hires on aggressive timelines
• Build strong partnerships with engineering hiring managers who trust your judgment and rely on your strategic counsel
• Create repeatable processes that scale as the team grows
• Maintain a strong technical bar while moving quickly in a competitive talent market

Requirements

Must-Haves

• 5+ years of full-cycle technical recruiting experience, with significant focus on hardware or engineering roles
• Proven experience recruiting engineers for hardware-centric companies (aerospace, robotics, automotive, medical devices, or similar deep tech)
• Track record sourcing and closing senior and staff-level engineering talent in competitive markets
• Demonstrated ability to operate both strategically (building hiring plans, advising leadership) and tactically (sourcing, screening, closing)
• Strong technical fluency — you can speak credibly with engineers about their work
• Startup equity fluency — comfortable explaining equity structures, vesting schedules, and how to think about total compensation
• Experience managing full recruiting cycles in fast-paced, high-growth startup environments

Strongly Preferred

• In-house recruiting experience at a hardware or deep tech startup (Series A through growth stage)
• Experience hiring across multiple engineering disciplines including autonomous systems, propulsion, thermal, mechanical, or structures
• Familiarity with aerospace, defense, or other regulated industries with ITAR/security requirements
• Background building talent pipelines and long-term sourcing strategies for hard-to-fill technical roles
• Experience developing recruiting metrics, dashboards, and data-driven hiring insights

Compensation & Location

• Base Salary: $120,000 – $160,000 - This range reflects the potential levels at which we may hire for this role. Final compensation will depend on experience, skills, location,  scope of responsibility, as well as internal equity. 
• Equity Included
• Location: El Segundo, CA (onsite)

About This Role

Varda is building the world's first space-based manufacturing platform, and we need a Technical Recruiter to help scale our engineering teams. Reporting to a Recruiting Manager, you will support full-cycle recruiting across hardware and engineering disciplines: autonomous systems, propulsion, thermal, mechanical engineering, and structures. This role is ideal for a recruiter who thrives in a fast-paced startup environment, can navigate ambiguity, and is ready to grow their career at the intersection of space and deep tech.

What You'll Own

Full-Cycle Execution

• Source and screen engineering talent through multiple channels: active search, referrals, passive outreach, and technical communities
• Manage multiple active searches simultaneously while maintaining a strong candidate and hiring manager experience
• Conduct recruiter screens to assess technical fit, cultural alignment, and compensation expectations
• Support offer processes in partnership with Recruiting Managers
• Own candidate experience from first touch through onboarding

Process & Systems

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date candidate records in Greenhouse (ATS)
• Partner with recruiting coordinators to ensure smooth scheduling and interview logistics
• Contribute to pipeline-building and sourcing strategy for hard-to-fill engineering roles

What Success Looks Like

• Build strong, trust-based relationships with hiring managers and candidates alike
• Deliver quality engineering candidates on consistent timelines
• Demonstrate a growth mindset — learn quickly, iterate on process, and ask good questions
• Develop technical fluency across Varda's core engineering disciplines

Requirements

Must-Haves

• 2+ years of full-cycle technical recruiting experience
• Experience recruiting for hardware-centric or engineering-focused companies (aerospace, robotics, automotive, deep tech, or similar deep tech)
• Strong communication and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple searches simultaneously
• Genuine curiosity about the technical work your candidates do — you don't need to be an engineer, but you need to want to understand it
• Experience working in fast-paced, high-growth startup environments

Strongly Preferred

• In-house or embedded recruiting experience at a hardware or deep tech company
• Startup equity fluency — comfortable explaining equity structures, vesting schedules, and how to think about total compensation
• Exposure to engineering disciplines such as autonomous systems, propulsion, thermal, mechanical, or structures
• Familiarity with ITAR requirements or regulated defense/aerospace industries
• Experience using Greenhouse or a comparable ATS, and sourcing tools like Gem or LinkedIn Recruiter

Compensation & Location

• Base Salary: $100,000 – $120,000 - This range reflects the potential levels at which we may hire for this role. Final compensation will depend on experience, skills, location,  scope of responsibility, as well as internal equity. 
• Equity Included
• Location: El Segundo, CA (onsite)

About This Role

We are seeking a highly talented, self-motivated Astrodynamics Engineer (you may also know this as mission design, trajectory design, or flight dynamics) to join our rapidly growing startup. As part of our larger Autonomous Systems team, you will have the technical leadership opportunity to create, design and implement full-cycle mission planning and orbital mechanics profiles for future reentry vehicles, unlocking the future of space factories with rapid flight and entry for next generation products.  

You will work closely with a top-notch multidisciplinary vehicle engineering team to architect the mission plan and trajectory of the world’s first commercial reentry vehicle, enabling the ability to precision land and return manufactured products to earth. You’ll own and develop modeling and simulation infrastructure and tooling to help ensure trajectory design and reentry profile are accurate, reliable, and safe. You will own the full cycle of mission planning and orbital dynamics development, from requirements definition and design to mission planning and on-orbit and reentry operations. We are looking for engineers who enjoy solving complex and open-ended problems, can work effectively in a fast-paced environment and share our passion in creating in-space industry.  

Responsibilities

• Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for the reentry of a next generation space vehicle
• Design spacecraft trajectories and produce orbital analyses for commercial reentry vehicles
• Optimize trajectories based on fuel, time, and/or performance characteristics
• Work closely with propulsion, software and flight operations teams to ensure vehicle and mission objectives are accomplished in the vehicle design
• Design and implementation of autonomous satellite navigational solutions, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, and atmospheric re-entry algorithms
• Running Monte Carlo analysis to characterize performance of new features
• Lead the development of new vehicle capabilities
• Support in-orbit operations as trajectory specialist, including coordination with other spacecraft operators and 3rd party entities

Required Skills

• Teamwork skills are necessary to solve problems in a collaborative environment
• Ability to scope projects including requirements capture and initial design trades given open-ended problems
• Develop 6 degree of freedom vehicle simulation using C++, Python and/or MATLAB/Simulink
• ADCS hardware performance specification including reaction wheel and torque rod sizing, sensor noise, and performance characteristics
• Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for the reentry of a space capsule
• Mission specific analysis for customer launch and in support of business development

Basic Qualifications

• B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field
• 3+ proven years of experience, or PhD with 1+ years of relevant experience 
• Demonstrated knowledge in designing, modeling, testing, and flying orbital trajectories or aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems
• Strong software and model development skills, particularly in C++/Python/MATLAB/Simulink
• Understanding of orbital mechanics, modeling and simulation, and software development
• Experience anchoring/fitting first principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations 
• Proven system engineering and configuration management skills 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Understanding of multi-body dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics
• Experience developing and verifying physical models for the purpose of control design, component sizing, and system performance evaluation
• Experience supporting flight test or flying spacecraft
• Ability to continuously manage risk and provide solutions with lean software development techniques
• Experience with project management for cradle-to-grave projects
• Prior work in a technical leadership role for a launch vehicle or satellite development effort
• Prior work in a startup or agile development environment
• Capability to solve complex problems autonomy as an individual or as a member of an integrated team
• Passion for advancing the commercial space industry

Pay Range

• Salary range: $125,000 - $155,000/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to receive stock options under the Company's Equity Incentive Plan.

About This Role

We are seeking a highly talented, self-motivated Senior Astrodynamics Engineer (you may also know this as mission design, trajectory design, or flight dynamics) to join our rapidly growing startup. As part of our larger Autonomous Systems team, you will have the technical leadership opportunity to create, design and implement full-cycle mission planning and orbital mechanics profiles for future reentry vehicles, unlocking the future of space factories with rapid flight and entry for next generation products.  

You will work closely with a top-notch multidisciplinary vehicle engineering team to architect the mission plan and trajectory of the world’s first commercial reentry vehicle, enabling the ability to precision land and return manufactured products to earth. You’ll own and develop modeling and simulation infrastructure and tooling to help ensure trajectory design and reentry profile are accurate, reliable, and safe. You will own the full cycle of mission planning and orbital dynamics development, from requirements definition and design to mission planning and on-orbit and reentry operations. We are looking for engineers who enjoy solving complex and open-ended problems, can work effectively in a fast-paced environment and share our passion in creating in-space industry.  

Responsibilities

• Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for the reentry of a next generation space vehicle
• Design spacecraft trajectories and produce orbital analyses for commercial reentry vehicles
• Optimize trajectories based on fuel, time, and/or performance characteristics
• Work closely with propulsion, software and flight operations teams to ensure vehicle and mission objectives are accomplished in the vehicle design
• Design and implementation of autonomous satellite navigational solutions, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, and atmospheric re-entry algorithms
• Running Monte Carlo analysis to characterize performance of new features
• Lead the development of new vehicle capabilities
• Support in-orbit operations as trajectory specialist, including coordination with other spacecraft operators and 3rd party entities

Required Skills

• Teamwork skills are necessary to solve problems in a collaborative environment
• Ability to scope projects including requirements capture and initial design trades given open-ended problems
• Develop 6 degree of freedom vehicle simulation using C++ and Python 
• Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for the reentry of a space capsule
• Mission specific analysis for customer launch and in support of business development

Basic Qualifications

• B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field
• 5+ proven years of experience, or PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience
• Demonstrated knowledge in designing, modeling, testing, and flying orbital trajectories or aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems
• Highly adept software and model development skills, particularly in C++/Python/Matlab
• Understanding of orbital mechanics, modeling and simulation, and software development
• Experience anchoring/fitting first principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations 
• Proven system engineering and configuration management skills 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Understanding of multi-body dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics
• Experience developing and verifying physical models for the purpose of control design, component sizing, and system performance evaluation
• Experience supporting flight test or flying spacecraft
• Ability to continuously manage risk and provide solutions with lean software development techniques
• Experience with project management for cradle-to-grave projects
• Prior work in a technical leadership role for a launch vehicle or satellite development effort
• Prior work in a startup or agile development environment
• Capability to solve complex problems autonomy as an individual or as a member of an integrated team
• Passion for advancing the commercial space industry

Pay Range

• Salary range: $155,000 - $185,000/base per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to receive stock options under the Company's Equity Incentive Plan.

About This Role

Varda is building the world's first space-based manufacturing platform, and we need an exceptional technical recruiter to scale our software engineering teams. Reporting to the Director of People, you will own end-to-end recruiting for all software disciplines: embedded systems, flight software, simulation, and mission software. This is a strategic operator role - you'll build hiring strategies, execute full-cycle search processes, and serve as a trusted advisor to engineering leadership as we scale from startup to production.

What You'll Own

Strategic Leadership

• Design and execute recruiting strategies for software engineering hiring across embedded, flight, simulation, and mission software teams
• Partner with VP of Autonomous Systems and the Head of Software to forecast hiring needs, set technical bars, and build world-class teams
• Build and optimize end-to-end hiring processes that balance speed, quality, and candidate experience
• Serve as the internal expert on software engineering talent markets, compensation trends, and competitive intelligence

Full-Cycle Execution

• Source, screen, and close senior software engineering talent through multiple channels: active search, referrals, passive outreach, and technical communities
• Manage 10+ active searches simultaneously while maintaining exceptional candidate and hiring manager experience
• Conduct technical screens to assess software engineering fundamentals, systems thinking, and hardware/software integration experience
• Lead offer strategy and close negotiations for senior and leadership-level software hires
• Own candidate experience from first touch through onboarding

Process & Systems

• Maintain recruiting infrastructure in Greenhouse (ATS)
• Partner with the Director of People to continuously improve hiring processes and candidate assessment frameworks

What Success Looks Like

• Consistently deliver high-quality software engineering hires on aggressive timelines
• Build strong partnerships with engineering hiring managers who trust your judgment and rely on your strategic counsel
• Create repeatable processes that scale as the team grows
• Maintain a strong technical bar while moving quickly in a competitive talent market

Requirements

Must-Haves

• 7+ years of full-cycle technical recruiting experience, with significant focus on software engineering roles
• Proven experience recruiting software engineers for hardware-centric companies (aerospace, robotics, automotive, medical devices, or similar deep tech)
• Track record sourcing and closing senior and staff-level software engineering talent in competitive markets
• Experience with embedded systems, real-time software, or safety-critical software recruiting
• Demonstrated ability to operate both strategically (building hiring plans, advising leadership) and tactically (sourcing, screening, closing)
• Strong technical fluency - you can speak credibly with software engineers about their work
• Experience managing full recruiting cycles in fast-paced, high-growth startup environments
• Startup equity fluency - comfortable explaining equity structures, vesting schedules, and how to think about total compensation

Strongly Preferred

• In-house recruiting experience at a hardware or deep tech startup (Series A through growth stage)
• Experience hiring across multiple software disciplines: embedded, flight software, firmware, controls, simulation
• Familiarity with aerospace, defense, or other regulated industries with ITAR/security requirements
• Background building talent pipelines and long-term sourcing strategies for hard-to-fill technical roles
• Experience developing recruiting metrics, dashboards, and data-driven hiring insights

Compensation & Location

• Base Salary: $150,000 - $190,000 - This range reflects the potential levels at which we may hire for this role. Final compensation will depend on experience, skills, location,  scope of responsibility, as well as internal equity. 
• Equity Included
• Location: El Segundo, CA (onsite)

About This Role

Varda is building the world’s first space-based manufacturing platform, and hiring is a critical lever in how we scale.

We are looking for a Recruiting Manager (Lead) to elevate how recruiting operates by driving clarity, consistency, and performance across a small team of recruiters while continuing to operate as a high-impact individual contributor.

This is not a traditional people management role. You will be responsible for how recruiting work gets done, the quality and speed of output, and mentoring the team to perform at a high level.

You will operate in a player-coach model, owning your own requisitions while ensuring the broader team is delivering. You will also be part of a Recruiting leadership group, working in close partnership with other Recruiting Managers and People leadership to drive alignment, consistency, and overall hiring performance across the company.

What You’ll Own

Recruiting Leadership (Player-Coach Model)

· Lead day-to-day execution across a team of 2–4 recruiting professionals

· Set the standard for how recruiting is done (speed, quality, candidate experience)

· Drive consistency across roles, pipelines, and hiring manager partnerships

· Mentor recruiters through real-time coaching, feedback, and calibration

· Step in where needed to unblock, stabilize, or accelerate searches

Hiring Outcomes & Execution

· Own hiring outcomes across your area—not just individual requisitions

· Personally manage 4–8 requisitions, depending on role complexity and business needs

· Ensure roles are progressing against expectations (e.g., 65-day time-to-fill)

· Diagnose and address gaps in funnel health, conversion, and pipeline quality

· Partner closely with hiring managers to align on profiles, process, and expectations

· Take on the most complex, high-priority, or at-risk searches

Hiring Manager Partnership

· Act as a thought partner and operator to technical and business leaders

· Set clear expectations on process, timelines, and candidate quality

· Push back when needed to maintain hiring standards and velocity

· Improve decision-making through structured interviews and feedback loops

Process & Systems

· Drive improvements to recruiting processes to increase speed, quality, and predictability

· Ensure disciplined use of systems (Greenhouse, reporting, interview workflows)

· Identify and implement high-leverage improvements (e.g., panel design, feedback cycles, sourcing strategies)

· Use data to inform decisions and correct course quickly

Market & Talent Expertise

· Maintain strong knowledge of technical talent markets (especially software + deep tech)

· Guide sourcing strategy and competitive positioning

· Support offer strategy and closing for high-priority hires

What Success Looks Like

· Hiring goals are met with predictability and quality

· Recruiters operate with clarity, consistency, and accountability

· Hiring managers trust recruiting as a strategic partner, not just execution

· You effectively balance owning 4–8 requisitions while elevating team performance

· Processes are streamlined and scalable as the company grows

· You are operating as a force multiplier, not just an individual contributor

Requirements

Must-Haves

· 10+ years of technical recruiting experience (strong IC foundation)

· Experience recruiting for software and/or hardware-centric engineering roles

· Demonstrated ability to operate beyond execution driving strategy, process, and outcomes

· Experience mentoring or leading other recruiters (formally or informally)

· Strong technical fluency; able to engage credibly with engineering candidates and leaders

· Proven ability to manage multiple complex searches in fast-paced environments

Strongly Preferred

· Experience in aerospace, defense, robotics, or deep tech environments

· Experience operating in a player-coach or lead capacity

· Familiarity with recruiting metrics, funnel diagnostics, and performance tracking

· Experience improving recruiting processes or systems at scale

Compensation

· Base Salary Range: $150,000 – $200,000 annually + equity

· Pay Transparency Notice (California): The salary range above represents the Company’s good faith estimate of the base salary for this role at the time of posting, in compliance with California law. The final offer will be determined based on factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, skills, qualifications, and location, as well as internal equity considerations. This role may also be eligible for additional compensation, including equity and benefits.

 About Role

As the Manager, Manufacturing Engineering, you will own Varda's ability to meet increasing vehicle production cadence targets. This role is responsible for developing and improving manufacturing processes, production layouts, and tooling to transition evolving vehicle designs into multiple concurrent builds at scale. You will lead a team of manufacturing engineers and specialists responsible for piece parts and subassemblies through final vehicle integration. Working cross-functionally with design engineering, production, and supply chain, you will ensure Varda’s vehicles can be built safely and at rate to meet customer demand.

Responsibilities 

• Own manufacturing engineering strategy and execution to enable increasing vehicle production cadence
• Build and lead a high performing team of manufacturing engineers and specialists
• Provide technical direction to improve team and build processes to scale toward increasing build rate
• Develop and scale manufacturing processes for evolving vehicle designs
• Partner with design engineering to improve vehicle designs for manufacturability and production scale
• Proactively coordinate with engineering and supply chain to improve the vehicle lead times and quality
• Review work instructions to make change recommendations when required and identify tooling/training gaps
• Lead the transition of hardware from development into production, with a focus on manufacturability, repeatability, quality, and throughput
• Establish manufacturing readiness plans, capacity models, and build strategies to support production targets
• Create and maintain manufacturing plans, process flows, work instructions, and build documentation
• Define equipment, tooling, and facility needs required to meet future rate goals

Basic Qualifications

• B.S. degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering (or related field). 
• 8+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering of complex hardware with experience supporting final assembly and integration
• People management experience (3+ years preferred).
• Teamwork, communication (verbal and written), and problem solving in a collaborative environment 
• Proven experience working on complex technical programs, preferably within aerospace or related industries  
• Strong first principles thinking
• Hands-on experience building complex vehicles
  • Must be physically able to regularly lift 25 lbs.  
  • Must be comfortable bending, stooping, and standing 
  • Hands-on position may require standing for up to 6 hours a day and working directly with hardware on the floor 

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of aerospace vehicle systems
• Experience with project management of the full lifecycle of a project 
• Capability to solve complex problems autonomously as an individual or as a member of an integrated team
• Experience moving teams and processes from development to production 
• Ability to read engineering drawings and schematics
• Experience with aerospace hardware development practices (e.g., qualification testing practices, cleanliness, ESD, grounding, etc.)  
• Experience across structures, propulsion, and/or avionics production
• Prior work in a technical leadership role for a launch vehicle or satellite development effort
• Experience with Unigraphics NX or similar CAD software

Pay Range

• $150,000 - $198,000
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role

Our pharmaceutical team is looking for a highly motivated Senior Scientist to lead protein formulation development programs within our Biologics Formulation team. This role offers the opportunity to pioneer innovative formulation strategies for high concentration biologics and advanced systems while building capabilities in a dynamic startup environment.

As a Senior Scientist, you will lead the design and execution of complex formulation development programs, applying deep expertise in protein chemistry and physical biochemistry to solve challenging formulation problems. You will drive strategic decisions in formulation design, mentor junior scientists, and establish best practices for formulation development in a fast-paced startup setting.

Responsibilities

Strategic Formulation Development

• Lead formulation development programs for high concentration protein therapeutics across dosage forms
• Design and execute formulation strategies based on first-principles understanding of protein chemistry, including solution behavior, protein-protein interactions, and colloidal stability
• Develop advanced formulation platforms
• Apply thermodynamic and kinetic principles to predict and optimize formulation behavior
• Identify and mitigate formulation-related risks including aggregation, precipitation, viscosity, chemical degradation 
• Identify Critical Quality Attributes

Technical Leadership & Innovation

• Serve as technical lead on multiple concurrent formulation projects from early-stage through late-stage development
• Design experimental strategies and interpret complex datasets to drive formulation decisions
• Establish formulation development workflows, analytical strategies, and acceptance criteria 
• Evaluate and implement novel formulation technologies and approaches
• Interface with cross-functional teams including analytical development, engineering, and external partners

Team Development & Data Excellence

• Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior scientists
• Establish robust data management practices and quality standards
• Maintain exemplary ELN documentation and ensure data integrity across the team
• Author technical reports, regulatory submissions, and scientific publications
• Deliver high-quality results within aggressive startup timelines while maintaining scientific rigor

Basic Qualifications

• PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomaterials, Materials Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, or related discipline
• 3+ years of biopharmaceutical industry experience in early-stage or late-stage protein formulation development
  Proven track record of leading formulation development projects from concept through execution
• Deep expertise in protein chemistry, physical biochemistry, and formulation science
• Extensive hands-on experience with analytical techniques for protein characterization (e.g., DLS, DSF, SEC, CE, rheology, spectroscopy)
• Experience developing high-concentration protein formulations and mitigating concentration-limiting factors
• Strong foundation in thermodynamics, solution chemistry, and colloidal science as applied to protein systems
• Demonstrated ability to work independently in fast-paced environments with shifting priorities 
• Excellent organizational skills with meticulous attention to data management and ELN practices Strong scientific writing and presentation skills

Preferred Skills And Experience

• Experience with protein crystallization, for drug delivery
• Knowledge of advanced formulation systems
• Experience with lyophilization, spray drying, or other solid-state processing unit operations
• Familiarity with Design of Experiments (DOE) and statistical analysis approaches
• Experience with high-throughput formulation screening and automation
• Track record of scientific publications or patent applications 
• Experience in startup or resource-constrained R&D environments
• Background in monoclonal antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, or other complex biologics

What We Offer

• Opportunity to pioneer formulation development for space-based biomanufacturing
• Technical leadership role with significant scientific autonomy
• Collaborative environment working alongside world-class scientists and engineers
• Opportunity to shape the scientific direction of a growing company

Pay Range

• Salary Range: $140,000.00 - $180,000.00/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role 

Fall internships will range between the months of August and December. All dates dependent upon the university schedule of the selected students. Internships are full-time and on-site in Los Angeles, CA. To be considered for this internship, candidates must be actively enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree program. 

As part of the Recruiting team, you will work on projects aimed at improving the efficiency and scalability of Varda’s university recruiting efforts. In this role, you will support fall university recruiting by building contact decks for target schools, preparing and organizing swag for career fairs, and helping coordinate logistics for on-campus events. You will assist in conducting interviews, taking structured notes, tracking recruiting metrics, and scheduling team meetings. This role will also include travel to career fairs and direct support of on-site recruiting activities.

Internships at Varda are designed for students looking to grow both professionally and operationally while contributing to high-impact initiatives. You will work closely with a collaborative team in a fast-paced startup environment, gaining exposure to how top talent is identified, engaged, and brought into a cutting-edge aerospace company. We’re committed to providing an experience where your contributions directly support Varda’s growth and success.

Responsibilities

• Support University Recruiting: Build and maintain contact decks for target schools and programs
• Career Fair Preparation: Organize and manage swag, materials, and logistics for recruiting events
• Event Support: Travel to and assist with on-campus recruiting and career fairs
• Interview Coordination: Help schedule interviews, support interview logistics, and take structured notes
• Recruiting Operations: Assist with scheduling team meetings and coordinating internal communication
• Metrics & Reporting: Track and report on key recruiting metrics and pipeline performance

Basic Qualifications

• Pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree from an accredited college or university
• Previous experience with event coordination, administrative support, or operational tasks
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced, detail-oriented environment

Preferred Skills And Experience 

• Previous internship or experience in operations, recruiting, or coordination
• Experience with spreadsheets, tracking data, or reporting metrics
• Interest in space, pharma, or high-growth startups

Compensation

• Hourly Rate: $33.00
• Housing stipend for interns relocating to the area
• Commuter benefit to support local transportation

Pay Range

Technician I: $27 to $30 per hour

Technician II: $32 to $36 per hour

Sr. Technician: $39 to $43 per hour

• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About this Role 

Varda is looking for a motivated Structures Engineer to join our team. In this role, you'll support the design, analysis, testing, and integration of structural components for our spaceflight systems and reentry vehicles. This is a great opportunity to grow your engineering skills while working alongside experienced engineers on real hardware in a fast-paced environment. You’ll contribute to projects that range from spacecraft structures to mechanical ground support equipment, while learning how to apply engineering fundamentals to solve complex, real-world problems.

This is a full-time, exempt position located at our El Segundo headquarters.

Responsibilities

• Derive hardware requirements and perform initial design trades given open-ended problem statements and stakeholder input.
• Evaluate the impact of hardware design decisions on packaging, thermal, environmental, and loads to ensure the best system-level solution.
• Own all aspects of hardware delivery, both technical and administrative.
• Use hand calculations, finite element analyses, and computer-aided designs (CAD) to ensure all hardware meets or exceeds requirements.
• Design and execute development and qualification testing.
• Develop tooling to support hardware integration and testing.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant engineering discipline with 1+ years of experience in related applications (e.g., structures for automotive, aircraft, spacecraft, etc.).
• Strong first principles thinking with an understanding of structural design, analysis, and test.
• Ability to perform appropriate structural analyses to demonstrate that a structure design meets or exceeds requirements (e.g., Hand Calcs, Ansys, Femap, Nastran, etc.).
• Familiarity with 3D CAD software (ideally NX).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Eagerness to learn and work on hands-on hardware projects.
• Excitement about making history at the forefront of both the space and pharmaceutical industries.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with aerospace hardware development practices, from concept to delivery (e.g., qualification testing practices, design for typical space environments, cleanliness, etc.).
• Experience with programming tools (Python, Matlab, etc.).
• Comfortable with hands-on assembly, fabrication, and machining of metallic parts.
• Familiarity with PLM software (ideally Teamcenter)

Pay Range

• $110,000 - $160,000 per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About this Role

Varda is seeking an experienced Senior Structures Engineer to join our team. In this position, you will be responsible for the design, analysis, build and test of primary and secondary structures for Varda's new spaceflight structures and reentry vehicles. We are looking for engineers who thrive on solving complex problems, can operate effectively in a fast-paced environment, and share our passion for advancing in-space industry. The structures team supports a diverse range of projects and responsibilities -- this includes the design and development of spaceflight structures, mechanical ground support equipment (MGSE), and basic spacecraft mechanisms, as well as the mechanical needs of other teams across the company.

This is a full-time, exempt position located at our El Segundo headquarters.

Responsibilities

• Derive hardware requirements and perform initial design trades given open-ended problem statements and stakeholder input.
• Evaluate the impact of hardware design decisions on packaging, thermal, environmental, and loads to ensure the best system-level solution.
• Own all aspects of hardware delivery, both technical and administrative.
• Use hand calculations, finite element analyses, and computer-aided designs (CAD) to ensure all hardware meets or exceeds requirements.
• Design and execute development and qualification testing.
• Develop tooling to support hardware integration and testing.
• Technical mentorship of junior engineers. 

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant engineering discipline with 7+ years of experience in related applications (e.g., structures for automotive, aircraft, spacecraft, etc.).
• Strong first principles thinking with a deep understanding of structural design, analysis, and test.
• Ability to perform appropriate structural analyses to demonstrate that a structure design meets or exceeds requirements (e.g., Hand Calcs, Ansys, Femap, Nastran, etc.).
• Excellent 3D CAD skills (ideally NX) and experience translating models to production intent (detailed drawings, work instructions, etc.).
• Experience working with revision-controlled documentation in a PLM system (Teamcenter preferred).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with an aptitude for interdisciplinary technical communication.
• Basic technical breadth across other disciplines (avionics, software, GNC, etc.).
• Excitement about making history at the forefront of both the space and pharmaceutical industries.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with aerospace hardware development practices, from concept to delivery (e.g., qualification testing practices, design for typical space environments, cleanliness, etc.).
• Direct experience with spaceflight vehicles, especially reentry vehicles, and the associated technical challenges therein.
• Experience with programming tools (Python, Matlab, etc.).
• Comfortable with hands-on assembly, fabrication, and machining of metallic parts.
• Experience designing and analyzing spacecraft heatshields

Pay Range

• $133,650 - $170,775 per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

About This Role