Senior Fluid Systems Engineer - Payloads Verified today

About Varda

Varda accelerates commercial space infrastructure, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable reentry capsules. Varda's W-Series vehicles and all their subsystems, including pharmaceutical processing payloads, heat shields, and satellite buses, are designed and operated in-house. The company is headquartered in El Segundo, California, with additional offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.

About this Role

As a Senior Fluid Systems Engineer on Varda's Payload team, you will develop electromechanical fluid-handling hardware that manufactures pharmaceuticals in microgravity, endures hypersonic reentry, and returns to Earth. Your payloads will precisely meter, mix, filter, transport, and thermally control pharmaceutical materials in compact spacecraft-compatible hardware.

You'll own the full payload lifecycle: concept through design, analysis, build, test, launch, on-orbit operation, recovery, post-flight inspection, and iteration. You'll collaborate closely with pharmaceutical scientists and process engineers to translate mission objectives into qualified hardware that flies in months, not years.

Key Responsibilities

• Own pharmaceutical manufacturing payloads from concept through design, integration, launch, in-orbit operation, reentry, and recovery
• Lead the design of precision fluid systems including valves, pumps, pistons, manifolds, tubing, fittings, seals, filters, sensors, and thermal-control systems
• Independently perform fluid, thermal, structural, and mechanism analyses using hand calculations, Python/MATLAB models, and FEA
• Build, instrument, and test prototypes and flight hardware to characterize flow rate, mixing, filtration, sealing, leak rate, pressure drop, thermal stability, contamination sensitivity, and reliability
• Integrate cross-functional inputs from business development, pharmaceutical science, and spacecraft subsystem teams into payload requirements
• Develop subsystem requirements, ICDs, verification plans, test reports, and recovery procedures
• Lead continuous improvement and incorporation of lessons learned
• Mentor entry-level engineers and interns

Basic Qualifications

• BS/BEng in Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics, Biomedical, Chemical, or related engineering discipline
• 4+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting electromechanical hardware
• Strong mechanical and fluid systems expertise with breadth in at least one adjacent discipline such as avionics, software, thermal, optics, test, precision instrumentation, etc.
• Experience delivering hardware for rigorous environments such as aerospace, defense, semiconductor manufacturing, or biotech manufacturing
• Experience with valves, pumps, pistons, tubing, manifolds, fittings, seals, filters, sensors, metering hardware, thermal-control hardware, and/or compact fluidic assemblies
• Ability to independently define tasks, manage schedules, and deliver integrated hardware
• Excellent cross-disciplinary communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior full-cycle ownership of precision fluid-handling hardware for relevant applications in space (ECLSS, low-thrust propulsion, astronaut suits, spacecraft thermal control) or on Earth (semiconductor process equipment, biotech process equipment, analytical instruments, medical devices)
• Experience with P&IDs, fluid schematics, component sizing, pressure-drop analysis, leak testing, flow characterization, 0D/1D fluid/thermal modeling, or design of experiments for process hardware
• Experience with compact systems that control small volumes of liquids or gases under thermal, cleanliness, pressure, sterility, or contamination constraints
• Experience planning and executing aerospace environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, EMI/EMC)
• Familiarity with microgravity fluid behavior, capillary-driven flows, gas/liquid separation, two-phase flow, cGMP principles, cleanroom practices, or regulated hardware environments

Compensation and Employment

• Salary range: $140,333 to $179,314 per year
• Leveling and base salary determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• Eligible for stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• On-site position in El Segundo, California

ITAR Requirements

This role requires access to export-controlled items. Varda hires only US persons: U.S. citizens, U.S. lawful permanent residents, or individuals admitted to the U.S. as refugees or granted asylum as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).

Varda participates in the E-Verify employment eligibility verification system.