Director of Avionics Hardware Development

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.Vardas W-Series vehicles are built designed and operated by Varda in-house including the pharmaceutical processing payloads the capsules the C-PICA heat shields and the satellite buses.

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.

Director of Avionics Hardware Development

About the Role

As Director of Avionics Hardware Development you will own all electrical hardware design build and test across every avionics subsystem - RF Power GNC Compute and I/O - for Vardas satellite bus reentry capsule and pharmaceutical payloads. You will lead a multi-disciplinary team of engineers through the full product lifecycle: from feasibility and architecture through prototype development qualification manufacturing and flight. This is a hands-on leadership role where your technical judgment and strategic decision-making directlydeterminemission success.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Own the end-to-end avionics hardware development program across all subsystems (RF power electronics digital/compute GNC sensors and actuators I/O and harnessing)
• Drive hardware from concept through schematic and layout review prototyping environmental qualification (thermal vibe shock TVAC EMI) and flight acceptance
• Define the hardware and technology roadmap - maximize reuse drive common circuit implementations across subsystems and increase development speed through simplification
• Establish and enforce design rules review gates and development processes that ensure consistency and quality as the team and mission cadence scale
• Collaborate cross-functionally with flight software GNC structures thermal integration & test and mission operations to define system architecture and resolve interface challenges
• Anchor hardware designs toderivedrequirementsandengineeringobjectivesperformtrades and analyses (link budgets power models EMC assessments) to retire risk early

Production & Scaling

• Hit Varda production milestones tomaintainand increase mission cadence
• Build and advocate for infrastructure to support environmental testingcomponentqualification and manufacturing at scale
• Developrobustwork instructions test software suites and reliable testexecutionto transition designs from development to repeatable high-rate production

Team Building & Mentorship

• Grow and lead the avionics hardware team - recruit top talent set team structure andallocateresources to meet company objectives
• Mentor engineers at all levels investing in their technical development and career growth
• Foster a collaborative high-ownership culture where engineersoperatewith autonomy and urgency

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in electrical engineering aerospace engineering or a related field
• 10 years of experience developing electronic hardware for mission-critical applications in harsh environments (space aviation defense or robotics)
• Demonstrated experience leading and managing multi-disciplinary hardware engineering teams (5 direct/indirect reports)
• Deep technical fluency across at leastthreeof: power electronicscomputeRF mixed-signal design or GNC sensorand actuators
• Track recorddriving hardware through the full product lifecycle - from requirements and architecture through qualification manufacturing and operations
• Experience with environmental test campaigns (thermal cycling TVAC vibe shock EMI/EMC) and space qualification standards

Preferred

• Experience at a high-cadence aerospace organization
• Hands-on experience with spacecraft avionics systems - flight computers power distribution RF communications GPS IMUs reaction wheelsorsimilar
• Experience scaling a hardware team or product line from prototype to production volumes

Pay Range

• Salary range: $192500-$245971
• This role ison-sitein El Segundo CA
• Leveling and base salary are 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
  
  

ITAR Requirements

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. Because our employees are provided access to export-controlled items our 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).