Senior Terrestrial Automation & Controls Engineer
About The Position
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. The Senior Terrestrial Automation & Controls Engineer 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. They will have a meaningful impact on architecture decisions, and the chance to define standards that will outlast any single program.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, or related technical field.
- 5+ years of industry experience in test automation, controls, and/or industrial automation.
- Hands-on experience integrating with industrial hardware over protocols such as EtherCAT, Modbus (TCP/RTU), RS-232/485 serial, or similar communication standards.
- Experience with at least one modern PLC ecosystem - ideally Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 with structured text (IEC 61131-3), or a demonstrated eagerness to develop deep expertise there.
- Comfort working across the full stack: designing electrical panels, wiring cabinets, debugging hardware, and writing control software.
- Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment where priorities shift, and end-to-end ownership of problems is expected.
Nice To Haves
- Strong intuition for when to use real-time PLC code versus higher-level Python orchestration, and a strong understanding of the tradeoff.
- Experience working with custom or in-house control frameworks, rather than relying solely on vendor-provided stacks.
- Advanced EtherCAT expertise - including DC sync, ENI configuration, master implementation, or driver-level work.
- Production experience with TwinCAT 3, structured text, and the broader IEC 61131-3 language suite.
- Experience designing deterministic, hard real-time control loops with sub-millisecond cycle times.
- Familiarity with time-series data acquisition and visualization tools such as Grafana, InfluxDB, or similar platforms.
- Aerospace experience, particularly in spacecraft testing or GSE development.
- Environmental test experience, including TVAC, thermal cycling, and vibration testing.
- Hands-on experience working with high-pressure gas or fluid systems.
- Experience developing propulsion test stands or other complex, multi-subsystem test infrastructure.
- Familiarity with spacecraft qualification standards and associated documentation requirements.
- Experience developing safety-related control systems and evaluating proposed solutions for reducing safety-related risks.
Responsibilities
- Design, build, and maintain test systems and ground support equipment (GSE) for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing operations.
- Integrate with a wide range of external hardware, including thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, pressure systems, data acquisition hardware, and precision instrumentation.
- Develop and extend Varda's internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling to support evolving program needs.
- Contribute to architecture decisions on real-time control implementation, including evaluation of PLC-based (TwinCAT 3) versus 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.
- Champion sustainable engineering practices that enable new engineers to ramp quickly on the tech stack and maintain production systems reliably.
Benefits
- Stock options
- Long-term cash awards
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
