Varda Space Industries
Automation and Controls Engineer - Python
About this role
Varda seeks an Automation and Controls Engineer to design and build sophisticated ground support equipment and test systems for qualifying spacecraft hardware. You'll work with a modern tech stack including custom PLC frameworks and Beckhoff EtherCAT tooling, owning systems from electrical design through commissioning while partnering across propulsion, avionics, and manufacturing teams.
What you'll do
- Design, build, and maintain test systems and ground support equipment (GSE) for flight hardware qualification
- Integrate external hardware including thermal vacuum chambers, environmental qualification systems, and precision instrumentation
- Develop and extend Varda's internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling using TwinCAT 3
- Contribute to architecture decisions for real-time control implementation, evaluating PLC versus Linux-based approaches
- Build electrical cabinets, wire panels, and own systems end-to-end from design through commissioning
- Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to deliver test infrastructure on aggressive timelines
What they're looking for
- PLC programming (Beckhoff TwinCAT 3, IEC 61131-3 structured text)
- Industrial protocol integration (EtherCAT, Modbus TCP/RTU, RS-232/485)
- Python orchestration and scripting
- Electrical panel design and cabinet wiring
- Real-time control systems and embedded systems
- Test automation and ground support equipment development
- Hardware integration and debugging across full stack
- Data acquisition and monitoring systems
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Varda Space Industries
Varda Space Industries builds commercial spacecraft and orbital manufacturing systems for missions in low Earth orbit, including reentry capsules and satellite buses. The company is hiring mission operations engineers, software engineers (ground segment, flight, and embedded), and manufacturing engineers to develop mission-critical systems, operational infrastructure, and scalable production capabilities.
- Website
- varda.com
Likely interview questions
- Walk us through a test system or GSE project you designed end-to-end—what were the key integration challenges and how did you solve them?
- Describe your experience with EtherCAT and TwinCAT 3. Have you worked with DC sync, ENI configuration, or master-level implementations?