Pharmaceutical Marketing & Strategy Internship Summer 2026

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

Summer internships will range between the months of May and August.All dates dependent upon the university schedule of the selected students. Internships are full-time and on-site in Los Angeles CA.

Internships at Varda are designed for students who want to work on high-impact strategically meaningful projects that directly influence the companys growth. You will work cross-functionally with Marketing and Pharma Business Development leadership to build foundational insights that shape how Varda engages the pharmaceutical industry.

This role has evolved from a traditional social media internship into a focused research-driven marketing strategy position supporting Vardas pharma initiatives.

As a Pharma Marketing & Strategy Intern you will develop a clear evidence-based understanding of who Vardas pharmaceutical audiences are what they care about and how Varda should speak to them. Your work will directly inform marketing materials business development conversations conference strategy website messaging and partner outreach. If you are excited about the intersection of space-enabled manufacturing pharmaceuticals and strategic storytelling this role offers the opportunity to produce work that the company will immediately use to drive revenue and partnerships.

Responsibilities

Audience & Landscape Research

• Conduct deep research into pharmaceutical organizational structures leadership roles and decision-making processes.
• Analyze earnings calls public interviews conference talks published papers and partnership announcements to understand industry priorities.
• Study pharma conference agendas (CMC formulation advanced manufacturing process development) to identify key audience archetypes.
• Research small molecule development challenges especially solubility crystallization dosing and scalability bottlenecks.

Persona Development

Develop 34 deeply researched pharmaceutical personas representing high-value target audiences such as:

• Pharma R&D leadership
• CMC and Technical Operations leaders
• Advanced manufacturing and process development teams
• Innovation strategic R&D and external partnership groups

For each persona define:

• Role and organizational context
• Decision-making authority and influence
• Core goals and performance metrics
• Pain points and bottlenecks
• How Vardas technology provides value today and in the future
• Messaging guidance proof points and outreach channels

Strategic Messaging & Application

• Translate persona insights into actionable marketing outputs.
• Provide language guidance that resonates with each persona and identify language to avoid.
• Outline how Varda should position itself for early-stage small molecule teams facing solubility and formulation challenges.
• Identify where and how each persona is most likely to encounter Varda (conferences venture introductions publications partnerships).

Deliverables & Implementation

• Present findings at the end of the summer to Varda Marketing Pharma and Business Development leadership.
• Produce 34 written persona profiles (12 slides each) and a summary comparison table.
• Build and maintain an Airtable database tracking key individuals communication channels conferences webinars publications and industry touchpoints.

In addition select 12 applied outputs such as:

• Rewrite a section of the Varda pharma website for a specific persona.
• Draft a targeted pharma microsite concept.
• Create a one-page pharma explainer.
• Develop a persona-specific LinkedIn post or short article.
• Outline a pharma-relevant case study or thought-leadership piece.

Basic Qualifications

• Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in Marketing Business Life Sciences Pharmaceutical Sciences Biotechnology or a related field
• Strong research and analytical skills with the ability to synthesize complex industry information
• Excellent writing and communication skills with attention to clarity tone and structure
• Interest in pharmaceuticals biotech advanced manufacturing or deep tech
• Ability to work independently on ambiguous strategy-oriented projects

Preferred Skills And Experience

• Familiarity with pharmaceutical R&D CMC manufacturing or drug development workflows
• Experience conducting market research or persona development
• Comfort analyzing industry materials such as earnings calls conference programs or technical publications
• Strong organizational skills and experience building structured research systems (e.g. Airtable Notion spreadsheets)
• Strategic thinker with the ability to connect technical capabilities to commercial outcomes

• 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