Director of Propulsion Engineering

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.

About This Role

As Director of Propulsion Engineering you will own Vardas propulsion engineering organization end-to-end from concept through flight and vehicle recovery. Reporting directly to the CTO you will set technical direction drive execution and build the team responsible for propulsion across Vardas current and next-generation spacecraft programs. This includes systems fluid components combustion devices and test all in service of enabling routine commercial on-orbit manufacturing and hosted payload missions at scale.

This is a role for a leader who is equally at home deriving requirements from first principles and developing the engineers who will carry them out. You will play a defining role in shaping both Vardas technology and its engineering culture as we establish the first routine industrial operations beyond Earth. This role is open at the Director level with leveling determined by candidate experience.

Responsibilities

• Own the propulsion engineering technology roadmap and capability development required to achieve Vardas mission and company objectives
• Lead propulsion engineering end-to-end from concept development through design build test flight and vehicle recovery
• Set technical direction and drive continuous improvement of Vardas designs processes and flight operations to support increasing launch cadence
• Define project scope and engineering assignments with aggressive but achievable targets; hold the team accountable to both rigor and urgency
• Lead manage and grow a team of propulsion engineers and technical leads across all propulsion disciplines
• Establish and enforce engineering standards from project kickoff through flight closure ensuring pace is driven by urgency not at the expense of rigor
• Drive cross-functional alignment across engineering manufacturing test launch operations and flight teams to ensure propulsion development integrates seamlessly with vehicle architecture and program objectives
• Report and communicate propulsion engineering status schedule and critical path to senior leadership and across the interdisciplinary engineering organization

Basic Qualifications

• B.S. in Aerospace Engineering Mechanical Engineering Mathematics Physics or a closely related field; equivalent professional experience considered
• 814 years of experience in aerospace propulsion engineering for spacecraft or launch vehicles spanning design build test and flight
• 5 years of engineering leadership or management experience
• Demonstrated experience on a team that has designed built and successfully flown aerospace hardware
• Proven ability to set and execute technical direction for a next-generation aerospace engineering team
• Experience working cross-functionally with engineering production and operations teams
• Strong fundamentals in fluid systems propellant components combustion devices and/or mechanical systems
• Exceptional communication skills written and verbal and a collaborative solutions-oriented approach
• First-principles thinking with a systems engineering mindset
• Willingness to work in a fast-paced technically demanding environment
• Proficiency with CAD and PLM software
• This position requires access to information subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). To conform with these regulations applicants must be a U.S. Person as defined by ITAR 22 C.F.R. 120.62 which includes U.S. citizens lawful permanent residents (green card holders) refugees or asylees as defined under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) or otherwise eligible to access export-controlled information without a U.S. Government export license

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 10 years of aerospace propulsion engineering experience on spacecraft or launch vehicles
• 8 years leading an engineering team with demonstrated success building teams and processes from the ground up
• Deep understanding of interdisciplinary engineering fundamentals and cross-discipline dependencies
• Full lifecycle spacecraft experience: design build test and flight
• In-space engine design and vacuum test experience
• In-space propellant tank design integration test and flight experience
• Pressurization and propellant system design and analysis
• Experience interfacing with regulatory agencies in an aerospace engineering context
• Proficiency with Siemens NX or comparable CAD software

Pay Range

• Salary Range:
• Director: $192500-$245971
• This role ison-sitein El Segundo CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills education level experience level and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

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).