Varda Space Industries · 7 hours ago
Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer
El Segundo, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
$155K/yr - $185K/yr
5+ years expVarda Space Industries is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure, focusing on in-orbit pharmaceutical processing and reentry capsules. The Senior Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer will oversee the full life cycle of GNC development, performing system analyses, simulations, and contributing to aerospace simulation and test frameworks.
AerospaceManufacturingProduct Design
No H1B
U.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
ADCS hardware performance specification including sizing of reaction wheels, torque rods, IMU/GPS, and star trackers
Design and implementation of autonomous satellite attitude control, collision avoidance, orbital rendezvous, burn planning and atmospheric re-entry algorithms
Perform trajectory design, optimization, and dispersion analysis for the reentry of a space capsule
Develop 6 degree of freedom vehicle simulation using C++, Python and MATLAB/Simulink
Running Monte Carlo analysis to characterize performance of new vehicle and mission capabilities
Integration and testing of GNC sensors, actuators, and software in hardware-in-the-loop environment
Design and implementation of ground tooling necessary to facilitate fully automated maneuver responsibility and maneuver scheduling decisions
Monitoring on-orbit system performance; troubleshooting where necessary
Coordination with other spacecraft operators, 3rd party agencies, and the US government
Qualification
Required
B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, physics, or related field
5+ proven years of experience, or PhD with 3+ years of relevant experience
Demonstrated knowledge in designing, modeling, testing, and flying aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems
Strong software and model development skills, particularly in C++/Python
Understanding of orbital mechanics, modeling and simulation, and software development
Experience anchoring/fitting first principles models to test data or high-fidelity external simulations
Proven system engineering and configuration management skills
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Preferred
Master's degree in engineering or physics
Experience with spacecraft attitude determination and control system design
Experience with GMAT, POST2, or similar tools
Understanding of multi-body dynamics, flexible body dynamics, gas dynamics, fluids, and thermodynamics
Experience developing and verifying physical models for the purpose of control design, component sizing, and system performance evaluation
Experience supporting safety critical flight tests or spacecraft
Ability to continuously manage risk and provide solutions with lean and state of the art software development techniques
Benefits
Exciting team of professionals at the top of their field working by your side
Equity in a fully funded space startup with potential for significant growth (interns excluded)
401(k) matching (interns excluded)
Unlimited PTO (interns excluded)
Health insurance, including Vision and Dental
Lunch and snacks provided on site every day. Dinners provided twice a week.
Maternity / Paternity leave (interns excluded)
Company
Varda Space Industries
Low Earth orbit is open for business.
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$328.02MKey Investors
Alumni VenturesCaffeinated CapitalKhosla Ventures
2025-07-10Series C· $187M
2024-12-19Series C
2024-04-05Series B· $90M
Leadership Team
Will Bruey
Chief Executive Officer
Recent News
Business Insider
2025-12-25
2025-12-17
Company data provided by crunchbase