Senior Space Avionics Hardware Engineer – Stock Options

Varda Space Industries; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 182,000 - 263,000; Full time

Job summary

Varda Space Industries in El Segundo, CA, seeks a Principal Space Avionics Hardware Engineer to lead the architecture and hardware design of flight critical electronics for satellite buses and reentry vehicles.

You will own subsystem requirements, design, and qualification testing, mentor junior engineers, and collaborate with flight software, thermal, GNC and structures teams to ensure reliable operation in harsh space environments.

Qualifications

• 8+ years designing electronics hardware for aerospace/high-reliability industries.
• 3+ years of experience working directly on hardware for space applications.
• Experience owning architecture and implementation of complex electronics systems from design to production/deployment.
• Advanced PCB design expertise, knowledge of high speed signal integrity, power and grounding, EMC.
• Experience taking complex PCB designs through fabrication and assembly.
• Experience programming in Python, MATLAB, or another scripting language.
• Experience implementing hardware interfaces like SPI, RS422, and 1000BASE-T.
• Experience designing analog/digital filtering and mixed-signal circuits.
• Power electronics design including switch mode DC-DC converters.
• Understanding of aerospace sensor and actuator technologies.

Responsibilities

• PCB level electronics design at all lifecycle stages, from schematic capture to layout and test.
• Contribute to avionics architecture and system design for next-generation vehicles and upgrades.
• Define standards, processes and procedures to enable exemplary electrical engineering.
• Translate high level objectives into subsystem requirements, designs and milestones.
• Avionics SME for satellite, reentry vehicle, and payload hardware, supporting cross-functional teams.
• Collaborate with flight software, thermal, GNC, and structures to assess cross-vehicle impacts.
• Own product acceptance and qualification testing for space environments with Avionics Test team.
• Provide direction on system‑level integration test plans to verify hardware performance.
• Perform root cause analysis on test failures and mitigation of flight risks.
• Mentor junior engineers and elevate design methodologies for future leaders.

Skills

Electrical engineering

PCB design

High‑speed signaling

Power electronics

Python

MATLAB

Altium

KiCad

Education

B.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineering

Tools

Altium

KiCad

Job description

Varda Space Industries in El Segundo, CA, seeks a Principal Space Avionics Hardware Engineer to lead the architecture and hardware design of flight critical electronics for satellite buses and reentry vehicles.

You will own subsystem requirements, design, and qualification testing, mentor junior engineers, and collaborate with flight software, thermal, GNC and structures teams to ensure reliable operation in harsh space environments.