Varda Space Industries
Spacecraft Embedded Software Engineer
About this role
Varda seeks an Embedded Software Engineer to develop critical flight software for spacecraft, satellite buses, and reentry capsules operating in low Earth orbit. You'll own all phases of development from requirements and design through testing and on-orbit support, writing reliable firmware in C++ for real-time embedded systems.
What you'll do
- Develop and maintain reliable firmware controlling spacecraft, satellite bus, and reentry capsule behavior throughout missions
- Own complete software lifecycle including design, testing, integration, and verification & validation
- Define project scope through requirements capture and design trade analysis for open-ended problems
- Write quality structured code for embedded processors using bare metal, RTOS, or Linux environments
- Build highly reliable and available software systems meeting aerospace safety standards
- Perform software testing and performance validation to ensure system quality
What they're looking for
- C++ development with strong language fundamentals
- Real-time embedded systems and hardware-software integration
- Spacecraft or safety-critical software development
- Software testing and verification/validation techniques
- Requirements analysis and design trade studies
- Computer architecture and operating systems knowledge
- Python or Rust (preferred)
- Aerospace safety-critical systems (preferred)
Benefits
- Competitive salary range $131,000–$184,000 annually
- On-site work in El Segundo, California with modern production facility
- Opportunity to work on cutting-edge commercial space infrastructure
- Team of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and major tech companies
- Backing from leading venture investors including Khosla Ventures and Lux Capital
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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
- Describe your experience developing software for safety-critical systems. How did you ensure reliability and handle failure modes?
- Walk us through a complex embedded systems project where you owned the full development lifecycle from requirements to flight operations.