Varda Space
Senior Mission Design Engineer
$169K–$216K
El Segundo, California, United States · Senior · Full-time · Posted Jun 23, 2026
- Experience
- 5+ years of proven experience, or PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience.
- Education
- B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field.
- Visa sponsorship
- Only hires U.S. persons permitted to access its technology without an export license: U.S. citizens, U.S. lawful permanent residents, or protected individuals admitted as refugees or granted asylum.
About the job
Designs and develops mission plans, orbital trajectories, and reentry systems for commercial spacecraft, including simulation tools and support for flight operations.
What you'll do
- Design, optimize, and analyze spacecraft trajectories and reentry profiles, including dispersion and Monte Carlo analyses.
- Develop and maintain vehicle simulations, autonomous navigation algorithms, and ground-based mission operations tools.
- Lead mission planning and vehicle capability development, and support on-orbit and reentry operations.
What they ask for
- B.S. in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or a related field.
- 5+ years of proven experience, or a PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience.
- Demonstrated experience designing, modeling, testing, and flying orbital trajectories or aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems.
- Strong software and model development skills, particularly in C++/Python/Matlab; understanding of orbital mechanics, simulation, and software development.
Nice to have
- Experience supporting flight tests or flying spacecraft; technical leadership in launch vehicle or satellite development.
- Knowledge of multi-body dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics.
Pay
$169,067 - $216,031/per year (base salary)
Tools
C++, Python, Matlab
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative