Thermofluids Engineer II Verified today
About Varda
Varda is accelerating commercial space infrastructure development, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable reentry capsules. Varda designs and operates the W-Series vehicles in-house, including pharmaceutical payloads, capsules, C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses. The company is headquartered in El Segundo, California with offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.
About this Role
As Thermofluids Engineer II, you will drive fluid system design for thermal management on the spacecraft through analysis, test, and validation. This role supports development and characterization of thermomechanical and fluid systems for payload, vehicle, and propulsion applications. You will define performance metrics, operational requirements, and hardware requirements for ground testing and flight.
Day-to-day work includes sizing thermofluid systems and component performance via hand calculations, simulation, and testing. You will work with thermomechanical hardware such as valves, pumps, accumulators, and heat exchangers, plus 0D and 1D fluid network modeling. You will gain significant ownership and see your contributions rapidly come to life.
Responsibilities
- Develop active thermal control systems for vehicle and payload thermal management
- Develop fluid network models to interface with top level vehicle thermal model
- Define hardware and operational requirements for fluid systems based on analysis and testing
- Inform manufacturing and integration of thermal and fluid hardware onto the vehicle
- Work collaboratively with payload, mechanical, software, and propulsion teams to design and develop thermal and fluid systems to meet vehicle requirements
- Characterize thermofluid performance of propulsion systems from analysis, ground testing, and flight data
- Develop data processing infrastructure for ground and flight thermofluids systems
Basic Qualifications
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline, with consideration given to equivalent professional experience (typically 1 to 3+ years)
- 1+ years experience in thermofluids and/or propulsion systems in a manufacturing environment
- Strong heat transfer and incompressible fluid mechanics first principles
- Background in 0D and 1D thermal and/or fluid networks
- Expertise in one or more fluid or thermal modeling tools (SINDA/FLUINT, ANSYS, GFSSP, etc.)
- Knowledge of thermomechanical systems: heat exchangers, cold plates, vacuum chambers, pumps, valves, RTDs, transducers
- Hands-on experience in thermal and TVAC testing
- Experience in MATLAB (or equivalent) for data processing and task automation
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with aptitude for interdisciplinary technical communication
Preferred Skills and Experience
- 3+ years experience in thermofluids and/or propulsion systems in a manufacturing environment
- Master's degree in an engineering discipline, with consideration given to equivalent professional experience
- Experience with Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT
- Experience in propulsion systems and thruster characterization
- Track record of taking ownership of projects and delivering results in a fast-paced environment
Compensation and Employment
- Salary Range: $119,543 to $152,749 per year
- On-site in El Segundo, CA
- Base salary determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
- Eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
ITAR Requirements
You must be a U.S. person: U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) (admitted as a refugee or granted asylum). Varda employees have access to export-controlled items and the company hires only U.S. persons permitted to access this technology without an export license.