Principal Propulsion Engineer- Components

Varda Space•El Segundo, CA

2h•Onsite

About The Position

Varda is hiring an experienced Principal Propulsion Engineer to own and develop fluid components for the W-Series satellite bus and future vehicles. The propulsion system uses high-test hydrogen peroxide and hydrocarbon bipropellant, high-pressure inert-gas pressurization, and cold-gas attitude control. Components include valves, burst disks, filters, regulators, manifolds, pressure transducers, and RTDs. The engineer will take technical ownership of a significant portion of the component portfolio, improving capabilities and reliability while helping increase flight cadence. The role includes serving as a technical interface to suppliers and helping bring more component design in-house through make-versus-buy decisions, detailed design, and the development of capabilities for qualification, production, acceptance testing, and flight. The engineer will work closely with propulsion, structures, production, thermal, avionics, and GNC teams, and will support test stands, production, supplier visits, and issue investigations. The position is hands-on and based on-site in El Segundo, California. The stated salary range is $181,913–$232,444 per year. The role includes eligibility for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards. Due to access to export-controlled items, Varda hires U.S. persons who are authorized to access its technology without an export license.

Requirements

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline; equivalent professional experience is considered.
At least 6 years of hands-on experience designing, qualifying, or owning fluid components such as valves, regulators, filters, burst disks, manifolds, or transducers for spacecraft, launch vehicles, or comparable high-pressure hardware.
Working understanding of component design fundamentals, including sealing, force balance, spring sizing, friction, flow paths, materials compatibility, material finishes, and wear.
Mechanical design proficiency, including CAD, assembly management using PLM software, detailed drawings with GD&T per ASME Y14.5, and tolerance analysis.
Experience with component pressure and leak testing and ATP/QTP execution under SMC-S-016 or an equivalent standard, including authoring procedures and establishing pass/fail criteria.
Hands-on experience building and testing pressurized hardware alongside technicians.
A record of technical ownership, driving nonconformances and anomalies to root cause and corrective action across teams and suppliers.
Willingness to travel to suppliers and test sites as needed, typically less than 10% of the time.

Nice To Haves

At least 10 years of spacecraft or launch vehicle fluid component experience, including clean-sheet design of a valve, regulator, or similar component through qualification and flight.
Experience with low-leakage, on-orbit propulsion components and HTP, other strong oxidizers, or high-pressure gas systems.
Component analysis skills, including FEA of pressure-containing parts, 1D fluid network modeling, valve dynamics, and fatigue and fracture control.
Electromechanical and instrumentation fundamentals, including solenoid valve coil and driver interfaces, and pressure transducer and RTD calibration, excitation, and error budgets.
Supplier management for COTS and build-to-print aerospace components, including source selection, audits, and data package review.
Familiarity with AIAA S-080 and S-081 and AFSPCMAN 91-710 range safety requirements.
Knowledge of precision manufacturing and inspection for fluid hardware, including machining and deburring, welding, electropolish, precision cleaning, CMM, and NDE.
Experience establishing propulsion component testing capabilities for development, qualification, and acceptance testing, particularly in a high-cadence, high-throughput environment.
Experience leading a technical sub-discipline, formally or informally, and developing engineering standards within a propulsion organization.
Exceptional technical communication skills and precision in specifications, test procedures, data package reviews, and engineering memos.

Responsibilities

Serve as responsible engineer for a significant portion of the bus propulsion component portfolio, from requirements and specification generation through development, qualification, production, and flight.
Design Varda-owned propulsion components, including CAD, detailed drawings with GD&T per ASME Y14.5, tolerance analysis, seal and spring design, and supporting structural and fluid analysis.
Specify, source, and qualify purchased components; act as a technical lead with suppliers, review qualification and acceptance data, and drive corrective action or second sourcing.
Author and execute acceptance and qualification test campaigns per SMC-S-016, characterize performance across pressure and temperature envelopes, feed findings into system requirements, and document results in test reports.
Support vehicle build, integration, testing, and flight operations; disposition nonconformances and lead component issue or anomaly investigations through root cause and closure.
Represent components in design reviews, FMEAs, hazard analyses, and range safety interactions.
Contribute to the component knowledge base, qualification records, and lessons learned.
Mentor engineers and help establish component design and test standards.