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Varda Space Industries · 1 week ago

Principal Aerodynamics Engineer

El Segundo, California, United States

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$192K/yr - $221K/yr

5+ years exp

Varda is a company focused on developing commercial space infrastructure, enabling the manufacturing of products in space for the benefit of life on Earth. They are seeking a Principal Aerodynamics Engineer to lead the aerodynamic development of their next reentry vehicle, requiring expertise in hypersonic vehicle dynamics and computational fluid dynamics.

AerospaceManufacturingProduct Design

No H1B

Security Clearance Required

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

Lead the aerodynamic development of Varda’s next reentry vehicle – from rarefied entry, to hypersonic maneuvering, and subsonic terminal approach

Significant contribution to aerodynamic development of a hypersonic vehicle that has flown or is expected to fly in the next 5 years

Managed an aerodynamic or flight program that collected data from: test, CFD, flight, and other sources

Experience running CFD and DSMC simulations of hypersonic and subsonic flows: (Fun3D, Laura, DPLR, US3D, Sparta, DAC, CBAero)

Comfortable building structured and unstructured meshes in Pointwise

Experience with Matlab, or Python languages

Experience with wind tunnel campaigns

Experience developing an aerodynamic database for a vehicle from scratch

Basic technical breadth across other disciplines (avionics, software, GNC, etc.)

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with an aptitude for interdisciplinary technical communication

Must be able to obtain a security clearance

Familiarity with modeling vehicle dynamics in POST2 or similar tools

Experience sizing ablative or non-ablative TPS

Experience with flight reconstruction and post-flight performance evaluations

Experience with flight testing of new aerodynamic features and concepts

Qualification

6-DOF reentry vehicle dynamicsHypersonic CFD simulationsWind tunnel campaignsAerodynamic database developmentCFDDSMC simulationsStructuredUnstructured meshesMatlabPythonInterdisciplinary communicationTechnical breadth

Required

BS in an engineering of physics & 5+ years of relevant industry experience

Significant contribution to aerodynamic development of a hypersonic vehicle that has flown or is expected to fly in the next 5 years

Managed an aerodynamic or flight program that collected data from: test, CFD, flight, and other sources

Experience running CFD and DSMC simulations of hypersonic and subsonic flows: (Fun3D, Laura, DPLR, US3D, Sparta, DAC, CBAero)

Comfortable building structured and unstructured meshes in Pointwise

Experience with Matlab, or Python languages

Experience with wind tunnel campaigns

Experience developing an aerodynamic database for a vehicle from scratch

Basic technical breadth across other disciplines (avionics, software, GNC, etc.)

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with an aptitude for interdisciplinary technical communication

Must be able to obtain a security clearance

Preferred

MS or PhD degrees in Aerospace or Mechanical engineering, specializing in aerodynamics or fluid mechanics

Familiarity with modeling vehicle dynamics in POST2 or similar tools

Experience sizing ablative or non-ablative TPS

Experience with flight reconstruction and post-flight performance evaluations

Experience with flight testing of new aerodynamic features and concepts

Hold a secret or TS clearance

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

Varda is building the infrastructure for a thriving orbital economy, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules.

Founded in 2021

El Segundo, California, USA

51-200 employees