Mechanisms Engineer

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. Varda’s 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 a Mechanisms Engineer on Varda’s Payload team, you will develop electromechanical flight hardware that operates in orbit, endures hypersonic reentry, and returns to Earth for inspection and iteration. You will take full-stack responsibility for payloads across both pharmaceutical manufacturing and hypersonic reentry testbed missions—delivering flight hardware from concept through build, test, launch, and recovery.

You’ll collaborate closely with internal specialists and external partners, translate engineering requirements into flight-ready designs, and perform hands-on integration and testing to deliver hardware that flies in months, not years. This role is ideal for engineers with strong mechanical fundamentals who want to grow their breadth across thermal, fluids, avionics, software, and integration while shipping real hardware to space and back.

Responsibilities

• Own payload hardware from concept through design, integration, launch, reentry, and recovery
• Design mechanisms, structures, thermal/fluid interfaces, and electromechanical assemblies
• Run structural, thermal, and fluid analyses (hand calcs, simplified models, and FEA as needed)
• Build, instrument, and test prototypes and flight hardware
• Work across avionics, software, thermal, systems, and integration teams to define interfaces and ensure compatibility