Varda Space Industries
Spacecraft Mission Operations Engineer II
About this role
Varda seeks an experienced Spacecraft Mission Operations Engineer II to lead on-orbit operations for the Winnie Spaceship and establish mission frameworks for commercial space infrastructure. You'll own the complete operations lifecycle from mission planning through execution, develop automation tools, and scale operations as flight cadence increases.
What you'll do
- Develop, coordinate, and execute Varda's on-orbit missions with full ownership
- Create mission profiles and oversee the complete operations development cycle for mission-unique payloads
- Collaborate across engineering teams to continuously improve mission operations and ensure success
- Build web-based tools to automate operational tasks and reduce manual workload
- Scale operational capabilities to support growing flight schedule and mission complexity
What they're looking for
- Real-time spacecraft operations in high-consequence environments
- Python, JavaScript, and/or HTML software development
- Spacecraft systems knowledge including avionics, GNC, software, and thermal design
- Leadership and team coordination abilities
- Git and Atlassian products (preferred)
- Ground station network familiarity (preferred)
- In-orbit operations experience (preferred)
- Cross-discipline engineering problem-solving
Benefits
- Health and wellness coverage
- Stock options and/or long-term cash awards
- Comprehensive benefits package designed for full-time employees
- On-site work in El Segundo, CA with company facilities and production infrastructure
- Opportunity to shape a new mission operations framework
- Work with veteran leadership from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and major tech companies
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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 managing real-time operations on a complex, high-consequence mission and how you handled critical decisions under pressure.
- Walk us through a time you developed software tools to automate operational tasks—what languages did you use and what was the impact?