Principal Fluid Systems Engineer (Space Payloads)

Location: On-site in El Segundo, California, United States

Salary: $181,913–$232,444 per year

Company

Varda develops commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing payloads, reentry capsules, heat shields, and satellite buses.

What you will do

• Define requirements, architectures, and development plans for pharmaceutical manufacturing payloads.
• Establish fluid-system standards covering component qualification, sealing, contamination control, thermal control, and verification.
• Lead development of precision fluid systems incorporating valves, pumps, pistons, manifolds, tubing, fittings, seals, filters, sensors, and thermal-control hardware.
• Drive system analyses, trade studies, risk reduction, and modeling using hand calculations, Python, MATLAB, and FEA as needed.
• Lead prototype and flight-hardware build and test campaigns, including performance and reliability characterization.
• Coordinate with pharmaceutical scientists, process engineers, spacecraft subsystem teams, customers, partners, and government stakeholders while mentoring engineers and improving development practices.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics, Biomedical, Chemical, or a related engineering discipline.
• 7+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting electromechanical hardware.
• Deep mechanical and fluid-systems expertise with breadth in at least two adjacent disciplines.
• Experience leading project teams through full-cycle electromechanical space-flight hardware development.
• Extensive experience with precision fluid-handling components, metering hardware, sensors, and thermal-control systems.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. person due to ITAR-controlled technology access.

Nice to have

• 3+ years of cross-functional project leadership experience.
• Experience with precision fluid-handling hardware for spacecraft, propulsion, life-support, semiconductor, biotech, analytical, or medical applications.
• Experience planning and executing aerospace environmental testing, including vibration, TVAC, and EMI/EMC.
• Familiarity with microgravity fluid behavior, capillary-driven flows, gas/liquid separation, two-phase flow, cGMP principles, cleanroom practices, or regulated hardware environments.

Culture & Benefits

• Regular full-time employment with flexible PTO and 12 paid holidays.
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, with FSA and employer-matched HSA options.
• Parental leave, family-building benefits, wellness reimbursement, and sponsored One Medical memberships.
• 401(k) plan with a 6% employer match and incentive equity or long-term cash awards.
• Relocation support may be available for new hires.
• Daily lunch, twice-weekly dinner, team events, and complimentary EV charging.