Senior Spaceflight Structures Engineer

Varda Space Industries; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Varda Space Industries seeks an experienced Senior Structures Engineer to lead design, analysis, build and test of spaceflight structures and reentry vehicles. You will solve complex problems in a fast-paced team, supporting multiple projects and ensuring hardware meets stringent requirements.

You will work on development of primary and secondary structures, MGSE, and related spacecraft mechanisms, collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams to advance space and pharmaceutical industries.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in structures for aerospace, automotive, or spacecraft.
• Strong first principles thinking and understanding of structural design, analysis, and testing.
• Proficient in 3D CAD (NX) and producing production-ready drawings/instructions.
• Experience with revision-controlled documentation in a PLM system (Teamcenter preferred).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to communicate across disciplines.
• Experience with structural analyses to demonstrate requirements via hand calcs or FEA tools.
• Broad technical breadth across avionics, software, GNC, etc.
• Interest in advancing space and pharmaceutical industries.

Responsibilities

• Derive hardware requirements and perform initial design trades from open-ended problems.
• Evaluate impact of hardware decisions on packaging, thermal, environmental, and loads.
• Own all aspects of hardware delivery, technical and administrative.
• Use hand calculations, FEA, and CAD to meet requirements.
• Design and execute development and qualification testing.
• Develop tooling for hardware integration and testing.
• Mentor junior engineers.

Skills

First principles thinking

Structural design

Finite element analysis

3D CAD (NX)

PLM (Teamcenter)

Technical communication

Cross-disciplinary awareness

Python / Matlab

Hands-on fabrication

Heatshield design/analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

NX

Ansys

Femap

Nastran

Teamcenter

Job description

Varda Space Industries seeks an experienced Senior Structures Engineer to lead design, analysis, build and test of spaceflight structures and reentry vehicles. You will solve complex problems in a fast-paced team, supporting multiple projects and ensuring hardware meets stringent requirements.

You will work on development of primary and secondary structures, MGSE, and related spacecraft mechanisms, collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams to advance space and pharmaceutical industries.