Varda Space Industries
Automation and Controls Engineer - Tooling & Python
About this role
Varda seeks a Hardware Automation and Controls Engineer to design and build sophisticated ground support equipment and test systems that qualify spaceflight hardware for orbit. You will own test infrastructure end-to-end—from electrical design through commissioning—leveraging a modern stack including custom PLC frameworks and Beckhoff EtherCAT tooling.
What you'll do
- Design, build, and maintain ground support equipment and test systems for flight hardware qualification
- Integrate external hardware including thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, pressure systems, and precision instrumentation
- Develop and extend Varda's internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling using TwinCAT 3
- Evaluate and contribute to architecture decisions on real-time control implementation approaches
- Build electrical cabinets, wire panels, and own systems end-to-end from design through commissioning
- Partner with propulsion, avionics, 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 hardware integration (EtherCAT, Modbus, RS-232/485 serial)
- Electrical panel design and cabinet wiring
- Test automation and controls systems
- Real-time control systems and deterministic loops
- Python orchestration and higher-level scripting
- Data acquisition and time-series visualization
- Aerospace hardware and spacecraft testing
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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 you designed end-to-end—what hardware did you integrate, and how did you handle deterministic timing requirements?
- Describe your experience with EtherCAT. Have you worked with DC sync, ENI configuration, or master implementation at a driver level?