Senior Space Automation & Controls Engineer

Varda Space Industries, Inc.; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Relocation assistance

Fully paid health insurance

Job summary

Varda Space Industries, Inc. in El Segundo, CA seeks a Senior Automation and Controls Engineer to build bespoke test infrastructure for spaceflight hardware qualification and manufacturing. You will design, build, and own GSE and test systems, including propulsion test stands and environmental chambers.

You'll work across electrical design through commissioning, integrating with EtherCAT, Modbus, and other protocols, and help define real-time control strategies in a fast-growing space startup.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a technical field required.
• 5+ years in test automation, controls, or industrial automation.
• Experience with EtherCAT, Modbus, RS-232/485 or similar.
• Proficiency with Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 or willingness to develop expertise.
• Full-stack capability from control software to wiring and debugging.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain test systems and GSE for flight hardware qualification.
• Integrate with thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, and data acquisition hardware.
• Develop and extend PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling.
• Contribute to real-time control decisions and architecture discussions.
• End-to-end ownership from electrical design to commissioning.

Skills

EtherCAT

TwinCAT 3

IEC 61131-3

Real-time control

PLC programming

Electrical panels

GSE development

Python orchestration

Hard real-time loops

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Beckhoff TwinCAT 3

EtherCAT tooling

PLC framework

IEC 61131-3 tools

Grafana/InfluxDB

Job description

Varda Space Industries, Inc. in El Segundo, CA seeks a Senior Automation and Controls Engineer to build bespoke test infrastructure for spaceflight hardware qualification and manufacturing. You will design, build, and own GSE and test systems, including propulsion test stands and environmental chambers.

You'll work across electrical design through commissioning, integrating with EtherCAT, Modbus, and other protocols, and help define real-time control strategies in a fast-growing space startup.