Senior Space Avionics Systems Engineer

Low Earth orbit is open for business. Varda is accelerating 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 by Varda in-house, including the pharmaceutical processing payloads, the capsules, the C-PICA heat shields, and the satellite buses.

From life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics, there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. Varda is accelerating innovation in the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind.

Our team is uniquely suited to accomplishing this goal, with leadership and staff comprised of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with significant backing from world class investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, and Also Capital.

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

Join Varda, and work to create a bustling in-space ecosystem.

What you will do (Job Responsibilities)

The Avionics Systems team has a comprehensive role overseeing the design, integration, and testing of avionics systems for our Winnebago vehicle. We ensure that all systems are ready for both launch and operational phases, requiring a deep understanding of avionics system design, manufacturing processes, and operational protocols. This role involves close collaboration with various engineering teams, where you will navigate and resolve conflicting requirements to achieve seamless system integration. Your expertise will be crucial in ensuring the vehicle meets its mission objectives, from space manufacturing to hypersonic testing during reentry.

• Collaborate with cross functional teams to define project scopes and initial requirements, guiding designs from concept to prototype and full-scale production.

• Develop electrical architecture, system diagrams, and budgets to account for power, telemetry, channel count, size, and mass predictions used to communicate closing vehicle solutions to company level objectives.

• Analyze architecture for potential faults and risks, develop comprehensive mitigation plans, resolve uncertainties, and collaborate on Fault Detection Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) or operational workarounds when hardware solutions are unfeasible.

• Conduct comprehensive verification plans for avionics systems on flight and HITL hardware, ensuring readiness for launch and compliance with mission objectives for space and reentry operations

• Participate in mission operations as an Avionics specialist or system operator, where you’ll determine system health, suggest corrective actions, and to reentry commit criteria for operational success.

• Oversee the integration of the Winnebago avionics systems, acting as the primary point of contact for integrated systems investigations

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