Jobs at Varda Space Industries

Build and lead Varda’s first dedicated People Partner function. Advise executives and leadership teams, coach managers, guide talent reviews, performance calibration, succession, compensation, promotions, and employee relations. Establish scalable people practices from first principles, collaborate with Recruiting, Finance, and Systems/Analytics, and use data and AI to measure impact. The role is fully on-site in El Segundo and supports a rapidly growing engineering and hardware organization.

Develop and own electromechanical payload hardware from concept through design, integration, testing, launch, reentry, and recovery. Responsibilities include designing mechanisms and interfaces, performing structural, thermal, and fluid analyses, building and testing prototypes and flight hardware, coordinating across engineering disciplines, documenting requirements and test results, supporting mission operations, and contributing to post-flight improvements.

Supports Varda’s infrastructure, hardware, software, and services by deploying applications to Azure Kubernetes Service with Argo CD, maintaining systems, upgrading Atlassian tools, contributing to infrastructure-as-code and scripting, and automating reliability operations. The internship is full-time and on-site in El Segundo, California, with opportunities to work on cloud, Kubernetes, system administration, monitoring, and service uptime initiatives.

Designs, builds, and maintains automated test systems and ground support equipment for spacecraft qualification and manufacturing. Integrates chambers, pressure systems, instrumentation, and data acquisition hardware; develops PLC and EtherCAT tooling; designs electrical panels; wires cabinets; and commissions systems. Partners with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams while establishing reliable engineering standards. The role requires expertise in industrial communications, real-time control, TwinCAT, and end-to-end hardware and software integration.

Designs, builds, commissions, and maintains mechanical, electrical, fluid, instrumentation, PLC, and data acquisition systems for spacecraft qualification and manufacturing. Owns ground support equipment and test infrastructure including propulsion stands, environmental chambers, fill carts, and gas/liquid systems. Integrates industrial hardware, supports high system uptime, collaborates across engineering teams, and documents reliable production systems.

Owns spacecraft guidance, navigation, and controls development from design through simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, vehicle integration, flight testing, on-orbit operations, and reentry missions. Responsibilities include ADCS hardware sizing, autonomous control algorithm development, trajectory optimization, Monte Carlo analysis, six-degree-of-freedom simulation, GNC sensor and actuator integration, ground tooling, performance monitoring, and coordination with operators, agencies, and government stakeholders.

Manage the full lifecycle of government and commercial contracts, including proposal support, negotiations, FAR/DFARS and export-control compliance, execution, and closeout. Draft and review NDAs, customer, and partnership agreements; advise leadership on contractual obligations; maintain accurate records; and align cross-functional teams with signed agreements and regulations. The role is fully onsite in El Segundo, requires up to 10% travel, U.S. person status, and eligibility to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance.

Own Varda’s industrial and personnel security programs, including NISPOM compliance, facility clearance records, self-inspections, DCSA reviews, classified information controls, clearance processing, SCI access, briefings, visit authorizations, incident response, and insider threat support. Partner with HR, IT, Legal, Engineering, and business teams to build inspection-ready processes. The role requires an active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility, U.S. citizenship, onsite work in El Segundo, and occasional domestic travel.

Lead the development, deployment, administration, and sustainment of enterprise engineering applications, including PLM, CAD/PDM, MBSE, and change-management platforms. Build dashboards, integrations, ETL pipelines, workflow automations, and AI-enabled tools using technologies such as SQL, Python, and Power BI. Manage data governance, compliance documentation, system releases, vendor escalations, user training, platform evaluations, and engineering application adoption across hardware and software development teams.

Own and optimize Varda’s recruiting operations infrastructure, including Greenhouse administration, integrations, workflows, reporting, dashboards, forecasting, compliance, and candidate experience. Build scalable recruiting processes, connect tools through APIs, improve data quality, support interviewer training and recruiting events, manage vendors, and partner with Recruiting, People, IT, Finance, Legal, and leadership to enable efficient hiring at scale.

Own full-cycle technical recruiting for Varda’s aerospace engineering teams, including sourcing, candidate engagement, hiring-manager partnership, evaluation, and offer closing. Build scalable recruiting processes, track pipeline health, advise on market conditions and compensation, improve candidate experience, mentor others, and support inclusive hiring. The role is onsite in El Segundo and requires recruiting experience in competitive technical markets, with preferred exposure to hardware startups, Greenhouse ATS, ITAR environments, and aerospace talent networks.

Technical Sourcer responsible for sourcing and attracting engineering talent across aerospace and deep-tech disciplines. The role owns search strategy, intake, talent-market research, candidate pipeline generation, hiring-manager partnerships, candidate engagement, and pre-closing. Success requires consistently delivering qualified candidates, improving sourcing processes, advising on market conditions and compensation, and supporting inclusive hiring. The position is onsite in El Segundo, California and requires experience with hard-to-fill technical roles, LinkedIn Recruiter, advanced Boolean search, and senior-level sourcing.

Own spacecraft final assembly integration from subassembly mating through vehicle closeout. Develop integration procedures, assembly travelers, and work instructions; coordinate structures, propulsion, avionics, and TPS teams; resolve interface conflicts; lead readiness reviews; manage nonconformances and root-cause actions; track cycle time, NCRs, and rework; and define tooling and handling requirements for safe, efficient vehicle production.

Own end-to-end manufacturing processes for propulsion hardware, including valve assembly, tube fabrication, pressure vessel integration, and engine integration. Develop work instructions and process specifications, improve production cadence, enforce cleanliness and contamination controls, lead root-cause corrective actions, define tooling and test requirements, resolve quality issues, and optimize work-cell layouts for concurrent vehicle builds.

Owns manufacturing processes for aerospace structural assemblies, including composites, machined metals, and bonded structures. Develops work instructions, process specifications, travelers, tooling, and production layouts; provides DFM guidance; enforces contamination and FOD controls; leads nonconformance investigations and corrective actions; and coordinates material inspection with supply chain. The role supports scaling spacecraft and reentry capsule production while improving throughput, quality, and build cadence.

Own end-to-end manufacturing processes for aerospace propulsion hardware, including valve assembly, tube fabrication, pressure vessel integration, engine integration, testing, cleanliness control, tooling, and work instructions. Lead process improvements, root cause analysis, corrective actions, quality issue resolution, and production-flow optimization to increase build cadence and support concurrent vehicle production.

Own and improve end-to-end manufacturing processes for propulsion hardware, including valve assembly, tube fabrication, pressure vessel integration, engine integration, and acceptance testing. Develop work instructions and process specifications, enforce cleanliness and contamination controls, lead root-cause corrective actions, define tooling and test equipment, resolve hardware quality issues, and optimize work-cell layouts to increase production cadence and support concurrent vehicle builds.

Own manufacturing and integration processes for spacecraft payload systems, including pharmaceutical hardware, experiments, and customer equipment. Develop work instructions, assembly travelers, acceptance tests, and traceable build records. Interface with payload customers and design teams, provide DFM/DFA feedback, manage contamination control, execute verification, and lead nonconformance root-cause analysis and corrective actions. Coordinate payload readiness with vehicle integration while working hands-on with technicians and flight hardware.

Owns Varda’s advanced-concepts government business pipeline, leading opportunity identification, capture strategy, customer engagement, proposals, negotiations, and contract closure. The role translates classified customer needs into mission concepts, architectures, and business cases while building relationships across defense, intelligence, and government stakeholders. It also develops teaming partnerships, guides bid/no-bid decisions, mentors business development staff, and reports portfolio performance to executives. The position requires extensive national security, acquisition, and non-traditional contracting expertise, active TS/SCI clearance, and substantial travel between Washington, DC and El Segundo.

Owns end-to-end purchasing and strategic sourcing for precision-machined components used in spacecraft and propulsion systems. Responsibilities include issuing RFQs, placing purchase orders, negotiating supplier pricing and lead times, monitoring delivery and quality, developing supplier networks, maintaining planning data, identifying supply constraints, and creating mitigation plans. The role collaborates closely with engineering, production, quality, and suppliers in an on-site aerospace manufacturing environment.