Manager of Information Technology

About Varda

Low Earth orbit is open for business. Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules.

From life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. Varda is accelerating innovation in the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind.

Our team is uniquely suited to accomplishing this goal with leadership and staff comprised of veterans from SpaceX Blue Origin major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with significant backing from world class investors including Khosla Ventures Lux Capital Founders Fund Caffeinated Capital General Catalyst and Also Capital.

Varda is headquartered in El Segundo California where we have offices and a production facility where our vehicles equipment and materials are built integrated and tested. Varda also has offices in Washington DC and Huntsville AL.

Join Varda and work to create a bustling in-space ecosystem.

About This Role

As the Manager of Information Technology you will be responsible for managing Vardas IT systems processes and controls. You will manage a highly skilled team of folks with expertise in information technology enterprise applications information security and spacecraft mission operations. You will be responsible either directly or through your team for an array of critical functions including overseeing critical IT infrastructure managing sophisticated IT services and designing and managing highly reliable and powerful integrations. You and your team will also be asked to provide a information technology strategy for the company with the help of the engineering teams spacecraft operations teams and the vehicle production organization.

This is a full-time exempt position located in our El Segundo headquarters.

Responsibilities

Recruit retain and empower a diverse team of engineers to design and build next-generation information technology infrastructure for the Varda corporation and the Winnebago spacecraft

Scope projects including requirements capture and initial design trades to open-ended problems

End-to-end ownership of IT system including provider relationships testing networking mission control and ground station design/build/maintenance

Provide service and build a HelpDesk organization to ensure all day-to-day operations run smoothly across all Varda sites and teams

Act as a thought leader in the continuous improvement of Vardas information systems landscape staying ahead of industry trends and best practices

Provide day to day support and administration for our portfolio of enterprise software applications

Partner with Avionics Software and Mission Operations teams to develop mission critical hardware software and networking support for space missions

Work closely with Varda engineers to gather requirements research evaluate design plan deploy and support software platforms and related technologies in a world-class environment

Build highly-resilient high-performance scalable and flexible systems

Drive scripting and automation to develop solutions to common problems and software integrations

Implement best practices and controls across all information technology functions

Prepare schedules and supporting documentation related to information security audit requirements and interact with external auditors as required

Preferred Skills And Qualifications

7 years in the IT industry with demonstrated leadership experience as a team manager or a comparable role within the startup ecosystem

Experience leading multiple production deployment and test programs with varied timelines

Demonstrated experience building and growing lean teams in a fast-paced environment

Demonstrated strengths in organizational attention-to-detail follow-through reasoning critical thinking and problem-solving skills

Basic Qualifications

Bachelors degree in computer science engineering math physics information systems or similar technical discipline and 5 years of systems engineering experience or 8 years of systems engineering experience in lieu of a degree

Direct experience as a people manager

Ability to receive Top Secret or TS/SCI clearance

Strong written and verbal communication

Independently motivated with a demonstrated track record of delivering complex technical projects

Experience with Linux servers in physical and virtualized environments.

Experience with Python or other scripting and automation languages.

U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S. to conform with U.S Government space technology export regulations under ITAR

Compensation

Manager of IT: $154000$197000 /per year

Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills education level experience level and job performance

You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

Offer compensation also includes the ability to purchase company stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Benefits

Exciting team of professionals at the top of their field to working by your side

Working in El Segundo CA - an awesome Southern California beach city with quick access to entertainment and outdoor activities

Equity in a fully funded space startup with potential for significant growth

401(k) matching

Health insurance including Vision and Dental

Lunch and snacks provided on site every day. Dinners provided twice a week.

Maternity / Paternity leave

• Varda like all employers must ensure that its employees working in the United States are lawfully authorized to work in the U.S. Additionally our employees are exposed to and have access to certain export-controlled items. At present some of our technology to which employees have access requires a license to be exported to individuals other than U.S. Persons as defined in U.S. export regulations. Because our employees are provided access to export-controlled items our current policy is to only hire U.S. persons who are permitted to have access to our technology without an export license.

  US person means: U.S. citizen U.S. lawful permanent resident or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) (i.e. individual admitted to the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum in the U.S.)

  Learn more about the ITAR here.

Benefits