Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer (GNC) Verified today

About Varda

Varda is building commercial space infrastructure for in-orbit pharmaceutical processing and reentry capsules. The W-Series vehicles are designed, built, and operated in-house by Varda, including all payloads, capsules, heat shields, and satellite buses. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in El Segundo, California, Varda has offices and production facilities where vehicles are built, integrated, and tested.

About This Role

As a Senior Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GNC) Engineer, you will own the full lifecycle of GNC development at Varda, from design through unit testing, hardware-in-the-loop, on-vehicle functionality, and flight testing. You will perform system analyses including simulations and Monte Carlo to satisfy specifications and drive system-level architectural and business decisions. You will contribute to an in-house aerospace simulation and test framework, develop and maintain design descriptions and supporting documentation, and see end-to-end execution from initial analysis through vehicle integration, mission planning, flight, and on-orbit and reentry mission operations support.

Key Responsibilities

• ADCS hardware performance specification including sizing of reaction wheels, torque rods, IMU/GPS, and star trackers
• Design and implementation of autonomous satellite attitude control, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, burn planning and atmospheric re-entry algorithms
• Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for the reentry of a space capsule
• Develop 6 degree of freedom vehicle simulation using C++, Python and MATLAB/Simulink
• Run Monte Carlo analysis to characterize performance of new vehicle and mission capabilities
• Integration and testing of GNC sensors, actuators, and software in hardware-in-the-loop environment
• Design and implementation of ground tooling necessary to facilitate fully automated maneuver responsibility and maneuver scheduling decisions
• Monitor on-orbit system performance and troubleshoot where necessary
• Coordinate with other spacecraft operators, 3rd party agencies, and the US government

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 aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems
• Highly adept software and model development skills, particularly in C++/Python
• 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

• Master's degree in engineering or physics
• Experience with spacecraft attitude determination and control system design
• Experience with GMAT, POST2, or similar tools
• 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 safety critical flight tests or spacecraft
• Ability to continuously manage risk and provide solutions with lean and state of the art software development techniques

Compensation and Location

• Salary range: $169,067 - $216,031 per year
• On-site in El Segundo, California
• Eligible for stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Base salary determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance

ITAR Requirements

This position requires access to export-controlled items. Varda hires only "U.S. persons": U.S. citizens, U.S. lawful permanent residents, or individuals admitted to the U.S. as refugees or granted asylum.