Senior Spacecraft Avionics Hardware Development Engineer Verified today
About Varda
Varda is accelerating development of commercial space infrastructure in low Earth orbit. The company builds and operates W-Series vehicles in-house, including pharmaceutical processing payloads, reentry capsules with C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses. Varda creates both the products and infrastructure needed for space manufacturing to benefit life on Earth.
The Role
As a Senior Spacecraft Avionics Hardware Development Engineer, you will design and deliver flight-critical electrical hardware for the satellite bus, reentry vehicle, and customer payloads. You own your hardware domain from schematic capture through flight qualification. You will define subsystem requirements based on mission objectives, design to those requirements, and ensure manufactured systems meet them. You will also define safe operating criteria and support the mission operations team on risk tradeoffs near operational bounds.
Your Responsibilities
- PCB-level electronics design across all lifecycle stages: schematic capture, layout, design validation, fabrication, assembly, and manufacturing test
- Support avionics architecture trade studies, performance characterization, specification, and device selection
- Serve as avionics subject matter expert for satellite, reentry vehicle, and payload hardware, supporting GNC, pharmaceutical, mission operations, and integration teams
- Collaborate with flight software, thermal, GNC, and structures teams to determine system-level impacts of design decisions
- Own product acceptance and qualification testing for space environments (thermal, vibration, shock, TVAC, EMI)
- Provide direction on system-level integration test plans to verify hardware performance at vehicle level
- Perform root cause analysis on test failures and implement mitigation strategies for flight risks
- Mentor junior engineers on projects, challenges, and design methodologies
Required Qualifications
- B.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineering or related engineering discipline
- 5+ years direct experience designing electronics hardware for aerospace, automotive, or other high-reliability industries, including schematic capture, PCB layout, board bring-up, and environmental qualification
- Demonstrated experience contributing to complex electronics systems from design to production and deployment
- Advanced PCB design expertise including high-speed signal integrity, power and grounding, and electromagnetic compatibility
- Experience taking complex PCB designs through fabrication and assembly
- Expert user of Altium and/or KiCad EDA suites
- Strong hands-on lab experience with oscilloscopes, function generators, digital multimeters, and power supplies
- Experience programming in Python, MATLAB, or another scripting/data analysis language
- Demonstrated experience implementing on-board and over-harness communication protocols such as SPI, RS-422, 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
- Industry-leading electronic circuit design and analysis skills
- General knowledge in physics, math, and chemistry fundamentals for electronics in unique environments
- Understanding of aerospace sensor and actuator technologies including RTDs, pressure transducers, brushless motors, solenoid valves, thermocouples, stepper motors, and rotary/linear encoders
Compensation and Location
- Salary range: $140,333 to $202,703 per year
- On-site in El Segundo, California
- Leveling and base salary determined by job-related skills, education, experience, and performance
- Eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
U.S. Person Requirement
Varda employees have access to export-controlled items. The company hires only U.S. persons: U.S. citizens, U.S. lawful permanent residents, or individuals admitted as refugees or granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).