Senior Spaceflight Ground Support Engineer

Vardaspace; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Relocation support

Health insurance

401(k) match

Parental leave

Job summary

Varda Space Industries, Inc. is seeking an experienced Controls & Automation engineer to design, build, and own test infrastructure for spaceflight hardware. You will integrate with a range of external hardware and contribute to real-time control architecture decisions.

Ideal candidates have 5+ years in test automation or industrial automation, experience with EtherCAT, and a strong PLC background in a fast-paced startup environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain test systems and GSE for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing.
• Integrate with external hardware (thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, pressure systems, data acquisition, instrumentation).
• Develop and extend internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling to support evolving program needs.
• Contribute to architecture decisions on real-time control, evaluating PLC-based vs Linux-based approaches.
• Build cabinets, wire panels, and own systems end-to-end from design to commissioning.
• Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to meet aggressive timelines.
• Champion sustainable engineering practices to ramp new engineers.

Skills

EtherCAT

TwinCAT 3

PLC programming

Control software

Electrical panels

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer/Mechanical Engineering or related field

Tools

Beckhoff TwinCAT 3

EtherCAT tooling

Job description

Varda Space Industries, Inc. is seeking an experienced Controls & Automation engineer to design, build, and own test infrastructure for spaceflight hardware. You will integrate with a range of external hardware and contribute to real-time control architecture decisions.

Ideal candidates have 5+ years in test automation or industrial automation, experience with EtherCAT, and a strong PLC background in a fast-paced startup environment.