Senior Spacecraft Thermal Analysis Engineer

Varda Space Industries; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Stock options

401(k) with match

Medical insurance

Job summary

Varda Space Industries, headquartered in El Segundo, California, seeks a Senior Thermal Analysis Engineer to join the vehicle engineering team. You will develop and maintain thermal system architectures, collaborating with hardware, production, software, and mission ops to ensure vehicle health and performance through all mission phases.

Your work will span quick evaluations to high-fidelity analysis, contributing to thermal modeling and data processing workflows as Varda scales vehicle cadence.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace engineering or related field; 3–6+ years experience preferred.
• 3+ years in developing passive and active thermal control systems.
• Proficiency in Thermal Desktop and SINDA/FLUINT for detailed thermal analysis.
• Experience anchoring thermal models to test or flight data.
• Experience planning/executing Thermal Vacuum (TVac) tests.
• MATLAB or equivalent for data processing and automation.
• Familiarity with thermal margins and qualification test requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain integrated thermal analysis models for Varda’s space vehicles.
• Create tools and systems for model and flight data processing.
• Ensure spacecraft operate within thermal limits via passive/active control.
• Collaborate with other spacecraft disciplines to drive improvements.
• Plan, execute, and anchor models to TVac testing.
• Guide vehicle-level testing (thermal bakeout, VITL, propulsion hot fire).
• Work independently and mentor junior engineers.

Skills

Thermal analysis

Thermal control systems

MATLAB

TVac testing

Test data anchoring

Cross-functional communication

Education

B.S. in Mechanical/Aerospace

Equivalent experience

Tools

Thermal Desktop

SINDA/FLUINT

MATLAB

Job description

Varda Space Industries, headquartered in El Segundo, California, seeks a Senior Thermal Analysis Engineer to join the vehicle engineering team. You will develop and maintain thermal system architectures, collaborating with hardware, production, software, and mission ops to ensure vehicle health and performance through all mission phases.

Your work will span quick evaluations to high-fidelity analysis, contributing to thermal modeling and data processing workflows as Varda scales vehicle cadence.