Varda Space
Ground Support Mechanical Design Engineer II
$120K–$153K
El Segundo, California, United States · Full-time · Posted Oct 27, 2026
- Experience
- 3+ years of industry experience in mechanical design or industrial automation.
- Education
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, or related technical field.
- Visa sponsorship
- Must be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)) and lawfully authorized to work in the U.S.
About the job
Designs, builds, commissions, and maintains ground support equipment and test systems that qualify spacecraft hardware and support manufacturing operations.
What you'll do
- Develop and own mechanical, electrical, fluid, and instrumentation test infrastructure from concept through fabrication, commissioning, and ongoing support.
- Build and wire cabinets and panels, and serve as the Responsible Engineer for test systems including TVACs, centrifuges, and propulsion test stands.
- Work with engineering and manufacturing teams, support Varda’s internal PLC and EtherCAT tools, and document systems and procedures.
What they ask for
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field.
- Experience with Solidworks, NX CAD, or comparable; electrical wiring; and Altium or comparable electronic schematic design software.
- Hands-on experience with high-pressure gas or fluid systems and environmental testing, including TVAC, thermal cycling, and vibration testing.
- Experience developing complex test infrastructure and integrating industrial hardware over protocols such as EtherCAT, Modbus (TCP/RTU), or RS-232/485; experience with a modern PLC ecosystem or eagerness to develop deep expertise in one.
Nice to have
- Aerospace experience, particularly spacecraft testing or GSE development; familiarity with spacecraft qualification standards and documentation.
- Experience with safety-related control systems or programming in firmware or Python.
Pay
$119,543 - $152,749/ per year (base salary)
Tools
Solidworks, NX CAD, Altium, EPLAN, Beckhoff TwinCAT 3, EtherCAT, Modbus (TCP/RTU), RS-232/485
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative