Mechanical Design & Test Engineer II, Automation

About Varda 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.

About This Role The Mechanical Design & Test Engineer II, Automation builds bespoke test infrastructure that qualifies spaceflight hardware for orbit. They design, build, and own sophisticated ground support equipment (GSE) and test systems: propulsion test stands, environmental qualification chambers, spacecraft-level integration testing and more! Our stack is modern, including a custom PLC framework and Beckhoff EtherCAT tooling built in-house.

Enable high cadence, production enabling equipment is priority #1. Integrate mechanical, electrical, fluid, and instrumentation systems into cohesive test platforms.

Implement solutions from concept through fabrication, assembly, commissioning, and ongoing support.

Manage both rapid R&D test setups and long-term test infrastructure improvements.

Responsibilities Design, build, and maintain test systems and ground support equipment (GSE) for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing operations including data acquisition systems (Pelican DAQ, Load cell DAQ, Accelerometer DAQ, prop test stands, fill carts), thermal control systems (chillers, heaters, Ln2), PLC cabinets, and gas/liquid systems (valves, ducers, solenoids, flowmeters).Test infrastructure achieves 99% uptime and predictable  the "Responsible Engineer" for test infrastructure including centrifuges, TVACs, prop test stands, prop fill carts, prop gas benches, prop water flow stands and torch test stands.

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.

Read, deploy and make minor edits to Varda's internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling to support evolving program need.

Champion sustainable engineering practices that enable new engineers to ramp quickly on the tech stack and maintain production systems reliably. All systems are thoroughly documented, with clear, accessible procedures and schematics.

Basic Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, or related technical field.
3+ years of industry experience in mechanical design or industrial automation.

Extensive experience using Solidworks, NX CAD or comparable.

Experi…