Propulsion Components Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: On-site in El Segundo, California, United States. Travel to suppliers and test sites may be required, typically less than 10% of the time. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States and qualify as a U.S. person for access to export-controlled technology.

Salary: Senior $140,333–$179,314 per year; Principal $181,913–$232,444 per year. Stock options and/or long-term cash awards may also be available.

Company

Varda develops commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing, reentry capsules, heat shields, and satellite buses, with vehicles and hardware built, integrated, and tested in-house.

What you will do

• Own a significant portion of the W-Series propulsion component portfolio from requirements and specifications through development, qualification, production, and flight.
• Design valves, regulators, filters, burst disks, manifolds, transducers, and related fluid hardware using CAD, detailed drawings, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and supporting structural and fluid analysis.
• Specify, source, and qualify purchased components while leading supplier technical reviews, corrective actions, and second sourcing.
• Author and execute acceptance and qualification test campaigns, characterize performance across pressure and temperature ranges, and document results.
• Support vehicle build, integration, testing, and flight operations, including nonconformance disposition and anomaly investigations.
• Represent components in design reviews, FMEAs, hazard analyses, and range safety activities; mentor engineers and develop component standards.

Requirements

• B.S. in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 3 years of hands-on experience designing, qualifying, or owning fluid components for spacecraft, launch vehicles, or comparable high-pressure hardware; Principal candidates typically have 6 or more years.
• Experience with sealing, force balance, spring sizing, friction, flow paths, materials compatibility, wear, pressure testing, leak testing, and pressurized hardware.
• Proficiency with CAD, PLM-based assembly management, detailed drawings with GD&T per ASME Y14.5, and tolerance analysis.
• Experience authoring and executing ATP/QTP procedures, establishing pass/fail criteria, and driving nonconformances and anomalies to corrective action.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States and qualify as a U.S. person under applicable export-control requirements.

Nice to have

• Clean-sheet design of valves, regulators, or similar components through qualification and flight.
• Experience with high-test hydrogen peroxide, strong oxidizers, high-pressure gas systems, low-leakage propulsion components, or high-cadence testing.
• Knowledge of FEA, fluid network modeling, valve dynamics, fatigue and fracture control, instrumentation, precision manufacturing, and inspection.
• Familiarity with AIAA S-080, AIAA S-081, and AFSPCMAN 91-710 range safety requirements.
• Experience leading a technical discipline and developing propulsion engineering standards.

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% immediately vested employer match and relocation support for new hires when needed.
• Stock options or long-term cash awards, daily lunch, twice-weekly dinner, team events, and complimentary EV charging.