Spacecraft Ground Equipment Software Engineer

Spacecraft Ground Support Equipment Software Engineer

Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure, from in‑orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules.

• Design, build, and maintain test systems and ground support equipment for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing.
• Integrate with a wide range of external hardware: thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, pressure systems, data acquisition hardware, and instrumentation.
• Develop and extend our internal PLC framework and Ether
  
  CAT tooling.
• Contribute to architecture decisions on real‑time control implementation, including evaluation of PLC‑based (TwinCAT 3) vs. Linux‑based approaches for high‑frequency control applications.
• Build cabinets, wire panels, and own systems end‑to‑end from electrical design through commissioning.
• Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to deliver test infrastructure that meets their needs on aggressive timelines.
• Demonstrate sustainable engineering practices that help onboard new engineers to the tech stack and maintain production systems.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, math, physics, engineering or equivalent technical experience in safety‑critical software.
• 5+ years of industry experience in test automation, controls, or industrial automation.
• Strong Python skills, particularly for hardware control or test automation applications.
• Hands‑on experience integrating with industrial hardware over protocols such as Ether
  
  CAT, Modbus (TCP/RTU), RS‑232/485, or similar.
• Experience with at least one modern PLC ecosystem, ideally Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 with structured text (IEC 61131‑3) or a willingness to develop deep expertise.
• Comfort working across the stack: writing control software, designing electrical panels, wiring cabinets, debugging hardware.

Salary range: $ – $ annually. Offer compensation also includes the ability to receive stock options under the Company’s Equity Incentive Plan.

• Ether
  
  CAT experience beyond consumer‑level usage – DC sync, ENI configuration, master implementation, or driver‑level work.
• Production experience with TwinCAT 3, structured text, and other IEC 61131‑3 languages.
• Experience designing deterministic, hard real‑time control loops (sub‑millisecond cycle times).
• Understanding of when to use real‑time PLC code vs. higher‑level orchestration in Python.
• Bare‑metal or embedded firmware experience.
• Experience with time‑series data acquisition and visualization (Grafana, Influx
  
  DB, or similar).
• Environmental test experience: TVAC, thermal cycling, vibration.
• Hands‑on experience with high‑pressure gas or fluid systems.
• Experience developing propulsion test stands or other complex test infrastructure.
• Experience developing safety‑related control systems and evaluating proposed solutions for reducing safety‑related risks.

• Exciting team of professionals at the top of their field working by your side.
• Equity in a fully funded space startup with potential for significant growth (interns excluded).
• 401(k) matching (interns excluded).
• Unlimited PTO (interns excluded).
• Health insurance, including Vision and Dental.
• Lunch and snacks provided on site every day. Dinners provided twice a week.
• Maternity / Paternity leave (interns excluded).

Varda Space Industries is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Candidates and employees are always evaluated based on merit, qualifications, and performance. We will never discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, martial status, or any other legally protected status.

We participate in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E‑Verify program.