Mechanical Design and Test Engineer II, Automation (Aerospace)

Location: On-site in El Segundo, California, United States. The position requires U.S. work authorization and eligibility as a U.S. person under ITAR requirements.

Salary: $119,543–$152,749 per year, plus potential stock options and/or long-term cash awards.

Company

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

What you will do

• Design, build, maintain, and commission ground support equipment and test systems for flight-hardware qualification and manufacturing operations.
• Integrate mechanical, electrical, fluid, instrumentation, data acquisition, thermal control, PLC, and gas or liquid systems into cohesive test platforms.
• Own test infrastructure such as centrifuges, TVAC chambers, propulsion test stands, fill carts, gas benches, water-flow stands, and torch test stands.
• Build cabinets, wire panels, and manage systems end-to-end from electrical design through commissioning and ongoing support.
• Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to deliver reliable, production-enabling infrastructure on aggressive timelines.
• Deploy and make minor edits to the internal PLC framework and Beckhoff EtherCAT tooling while documenting systems and procedures.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field, with 3+ years of industry experience in mechanical design or industrial automation.
• Extensive experience with SolidWorks, NX CAD, or comparable tools, plus electrical wiring for cabinets, PLCs, harnesses, and connectors.
• Experience with Altium or comparable schematic-design software; familiarity with EPLAN is relevant as the migration is underway.
• Hands-on experience with high-pressure gas or fluid systems, environmental testing, propulsion test stands, or other complex multi-subsystem test infrastructure.
• Experience integrating industrial hardware using EtherCAT, Modbus, RS-232/485, or similar protocols, and familiarity with a modern PLC ecosystem such as Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 and structured text.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States and qualify as a U.S. person for access to export-controlled technology under ITAR requirements.

Nice to have

• Aerospace experience, especially spacecraft testing or ground support equipment development.
• Familiarity with spacecraft qualification standards and documentation requirements.
• Experience with safety-related control systems and safety-risk reduction.
• Programming experience in low-level firmware or Python.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time employment with flexible paid time off and 12 paid holidays.
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, with FSA and employer-matched HSA options.
• Parental leave, family-building support, wellness reimbursement, and sponsored One Medical memberships.
• 401(k) plan with a 6% employer match, immediately vested, plus incentive equity and possible relocation support.
• Daily lunch, twice-weekly dinner, team events, happy hours, mission-success celebrations, and complimentary EV charging.