Propulsion Components Engineer Verified today

About Varda

Low Earth orbit is open for business. Varda accelerates the development of commercial space infrastructure, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules. Varda's W-Series vehicles are built, designed, and operated in-house, including the pharmaceutical processing payloads, capsules, C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses.

Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with offices and a production facility where vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested. The company also has offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.

About This Role

You will design, build, test, and fly the fluid components on the W-Series satellite bus and future vehicles. The W-Series incorporates a high-test hydrogen peroxide (HTP) and hydrocarbon bipropellant propulsion system with high-pressure inert gas pressurization and cold-gas attitude control.

Your component portfolio spans each fluid subsystem and includes solenoid control valves, check valves, relief valves, burst disks, fluid filters, regulators, manually operated service valves, machined fluid manifolds, and instrumentation including pressure transducers and RTDs. You will take on significant ownership for these mission-critical hardware articles as responsible engineer, helping expand component capabilities, improve reliability, and increase flight cadence.

Many current Varda components are purchased parts; you will be the primary technical interface to suppliers. Varda intends to bring more component design in-house, and you will help lead that transition: shaping make-versus-buy decisions, executing detailed design, and standing up the capabilities to develop, qualify, produce, acceptance test, and fly Varda-owned parts.

You will interface daily with propulsion systems, structures, production, thermal, avionics, and GNC engineers and technicians. The role is hands-on: test stand development and operations, production floor support, occasional supplier visits, and issue and anomaly investigations as required.

Responsibilities

• Serve as responsible engineer for a significant portion of the bus propulsion component portfolio, from requirements and specification generation through development, qualification, production, and flight, in partnership with the broader engineering team
• Design Varda-owned propulsion components: CAD, detailed drawings with GD&T per ASME Y14.5, tolerance analysis, seal and spring design, and supporting structural and fluid analysis
• Specify, source, and qualify purchased components; serve as a technical lead with suppliers, review qualification and acceptance data, and drive corrective action and/or second sourcing
• Author and execute acceptance and qualification test (ATP/QTP) campaigns per SMC-S-016; characterize component performance across the pressure and temperature envelope and feed results back into system requirements; document results with clear test reports
• Support vehicle build, integration, test, and flight operations: disposition nonconformances and lead component issue and anomaly investigations to root cause and closure
• Represent your components in design reviews, FMEAs, hazard analyses, and range safety interactions; contribute to the shared component knowledge base, qualification records, and lessons learned
• Mentor engineers and help set the component design and test standards the propulsion team relies on and builds on

Basic Qualifications

• B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline; equivalent professional experience considered (typically 3 to 6+ years)
• 3+ years of hands-on experience designing, qualifying, or owning fluid components (valves, regulators, filters, burst disks, manifolds, transducers) for spacecraft, launch vehicles, or comparable high-pressure hardware, on either the vehicle or the component-supplier side (typically 6+ years for Principal)
• Working understanding of component design fundamentals: sealing, force balance, spring sizing, friction, flow paths, materials compatibility, material finishes, and wear
• Mechanical design proficiency: CAD, assembly management using PLM software, detailed drawings with GD&T per ASME Y14.5, and tolerance analysis
• Experience with component pressure and leak testing and ATP/QTP execution per SMC-S-016 or an equivalent standard, including authoring procedures and establishing pass/fail criteria
• Hands-on experience building and testing pressurized hardware alongside technicians
• Proven record of technical ownership: driving nonconformances and anomalies to root cause and corrective action across teams and suppliers
• Willingness to travel to suppliers and test sites as needed (typically less than 10% of time)

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 6+ years of spacecraft or launch vehicle fluid component experience, including clean-sheet design of a valve, regulator, or similar component through qualification and flight (typically 6 to 10+ years for Principal)
• Experience with low-leakage, on-orbit propulsion components and with HTP, other strong oxidizers, or high-pressure gas systems
• Analysis skills for component design: FEA of pressure-containing parts, 1D fluid network modeling, valve dynamics, and fatigue and fracture control
• Electromechanical and instrumentation fundamentals: solenoid valve coil and driver interfaces, and pressure transducer and RTD calibration, excitation, and error budgets
• Supplier management for COTS and build-to-print aerospace components: source selection, audits, and data package review
• Familiarity with AIAA S-080 and S-081 and AFSPCMAN 91-710 range safety requirements
• Knowledge of precision manufacturing and inspection for fluid hardware: machining and deburring, welding, electropolish, precision cleaning, CMM, and NDE
• Experience standing up testing capabilities for propulsion components (dev, qual, ATP), particularly in a high-cadence, high component throughput environment
• Prior experience leading a technical sub-discipline, formally or informally, and developing engineering standards within a propulsion organization
• Exceptional technical communication skills, precision and clarity in specifications, test procedures, data package reviews, and engineering memos

Compensation and Location

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.

Salary Range:

• Senior (typically 3 to 6+ years): $140,333 to $179,314 per year
• Principal (typically 6 to 10+ years): $181,913 to $232,444 per year

You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards.

Benefits

Varda invests in benefits and perks that support your health, financial well-being, and life beyond work. Regular full-time employee benefits include:

Health and Wellness:

• Flexible PTO policy and 12 paid holidays
• 100% company-paid Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plans for employees and dependents with FSA and employer-matched HSA options
• Voluntary accident, hospital, critical illness, and pet insurance
• $120 per month wellness reimbursement for gym and fitness expenses
• 12 weeks of parental leave (with supplemental disability leave for CA mothers)
• Family building, pregnancy, parenting and menopause benefits via Maven Clinic
• Sponsored One Medical memberships for employees and their dependents

Financial and Retirement:

• Substantial incentive equity in a fully funded space start-up
• 401(k) retirement plan with 6% employer match (immediately vested)
• $20 per pay period cell phone reimbursement
• Relocation support for new hires, if needed

Workplace Experience and Perks:

• Fully stocked kitchen with lunch provided daily and dinner provided twice weekly
• Company and team-bonding events, happy hours and mission-success celebrations
• Complimentary EV charging