Senior Build Reliability Engineer
About The Position
The Senior Build Reliability Engineer partners closely with design and manufacturing teams to establish processes and controls that enable spacecraft hardware production to scale. The role ensures production processes yield verified, reliable hardware at rate and may also support Quality, Flight Reliability, and Mission Assurance. The ideal candidate is a responsible, collaborative, process-oriented engineer with hands-on hardware design, test, manufacturing, or troubleshooting experience. The position is on-site in El Segundo, California. The stated salary range is $140,333–$179,314 per year. Leveling and base salary are determined by job-related skills, education, experience, and job performance. The role is eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards. Applicants must meet Varda’s U.S.-person eligibility requirement for access to export-controlled items.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, computer science, electrical, manufacturing, mechanical, or material sciences engineering.
- At least 5 years of professional experience in aerospace, design, quality, or a related engineering role.
- Hands-on hardware test, qualification, troubleshooting, or failure analysis experience.
- Commitment to lean quality principles without compromising safety or reliability.
- Demonstrated application of process controls in high-volume manufacturing, test, and quality environments.
- Experience generating, processing, and/or analyzing data for production insight.
- Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, with a drive to innovate and improve reliability in cutting-edge technology.
Nice To Haves
- Full project lifecycle ownership experience (cradle-to-grave).
- Proficiency with quality tools such as measurement systems analysis, design of experiments, statistical process control, root cause analysis and corrective action, advanced product quality planning (APQP), metrology, process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA), control plans, and various problem-solving approaches.
- Hands-on knowledge of CNC machining, additive manufacturing, casting, welding, fastening, or other special manufacturing processes.
Responsibilities
- Partner with design engineering and manufacturing teams to create test, manufacturability, and inspection plans for vehicle hardware.
- Contain suspect or known non-conforming product and provide guidance to quality inspectors, technicians, shop supervisors, and engineers.
- Lead failure investigations in production, test, and operation; identify and mitigate immediate and underlying root causes to reduce risk and improve the reliability of designs and processes.
- Provide critical peer review of hardware during design reviews and acceptance and qualification test campaigns.
- Perform failure modes and effects analyses, build requirements compliance matrix tools, and ensure adequate test coverage, change management, and manufacturability of flight hardware.
- Own vehicle-level deliverables for regulatory bodies, including requirements compliance, functional or flight hazard analyses, and verification evidence.
- Support Mission Assurance’s vehicle-level risk management and identification, tracking, and execution of mitigations.
Benefits
- Eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
