Senior Mechanical Design & Test Engineer, Space Hardware

Frontdoor Defense; El Segundo, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Long-term cash awards

Job summary

Varda Space Industries, Inc. in El Segundo, CA, seeks a Senior Terrestrial Mechanical Design & Test Engineer, Automation to build bespoke test infrastructure for spaceflight hardware qualification.

You will design, build, and own GSE and test systems such as propulsion test stands, environmental chambers, and integration rigs, collaborating with propulsion, avionics, GNC and manufacturing to meet aggressive timelines.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years in mechanical design or industrial automation.
• Experience with Solidworks/NX CAD and electrical wiring for cabinets.
• Experience with Altium or EPLAN; migrating tooling knowledge is a plus.
• Hands-on with high-pressure gas/fluid systems and environmental tests.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain test systems and GSE for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing operations.
• Ensure test infrastructure uptime >99% and reliable performance.
• Serve as Responsible Engineer for test infrastructure including centrifuges and TVACs.
• Wire cabinets, build panels, and own end-to-end system commissioning.
• Collaborate with propulsion, avionics, GNC and manufacturing teams on tight timelines.
• Read/deploy/edit Varda's PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling as-needed.

Skills

Solidworks

NX CAD

Electrical wiring

Altium

EPLAN

Gas systems

TVAC testing

Propulsion test stands

EtherCAT

Modbus

RS-232/485

TwinCAT 3

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

PLC programming (Beckhoff TwinCAT 3)

Job description

Varda Space Industries, Inc. in El Segundo, CA, seeks a Senior Terrestrial Mechanical Design & Test Engineer, Automation to build bespoke test infrastructure for spaceflight hardware qualification.

You will design, build, and own GSE and test systems such as propulsion test stands, environmental chambers, and integration rigs, collaborating with propulsion, avionics, GNC and manufacturing to meet aggressive timelines.