Varda Space Industries · 1 day ago
Propulsion Manager
El Segundo, California, United States
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
$154K/yr - $197K/yrVarda is a company focused on developing commercial space infrastructure, aiming to accelerate innovation in the orbital economy. The Propulsion Manager will lead the Bus Propulsion Systems team, overseeing the propulsion system from design through to mission operations, while managing a team of engineers and ensuring effective execution of propulsion-related projects.
AerospaceManufacturingProduct Design
No H1B
U.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
Own the top-level Bus Propulsion System: architecture, P&IDs, CAD, performance models, and interfaces
Act as the system owner from early design through build, test, and mission operations
Lead propulsion trade studies, design decisions, and future vehicle propulsion architecture
Drive change definition and execution across the propulsion system
Resolve propulsion-related build, integration, and test issues quickly and decisively
Support mission operations, anomalies, and post-flight analysis as needed
Balance performance, reliability, schedule, and cost in day-to-day decisions
Manage a growing team of Bus Propulsion REs (currently Cam, Summer, Jaylen, and Cory Adams; more to come)
Set priorities, technical expectations, and ownership boundaries
Coach engineers, review work, and develop future technical leaders
Help scale the team and processes without slowing execution
Partner closely with vehicle, systems, manufacturing, test, and operations teams
Represent propulsion in design reviews, program reviews, and leadership discussions
Communicate clearly when things are on track—and when they aren’t
Qualification
Required
Strong hands-on experience with propulsion or complex fluid systems
Proven system-level ownership (not just components)
Experience leading engineers or acting as a technical lead
Comfortable making decisions with incomplete data in a fast-moving environment
Willing to dive deep when needed and zoom out when required
Preferred
Spacecraft or launch vehicle bus propulsion experience
Direct ownership of P&IDs, system models, and CAD
Build, test, or mission ops experience
Experience scaling teams in a startup environment
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.
Founded in 2021
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