Varda Space Industries
Spacecraft Mission Operations Engineer, Python
About this role
Varda seeks a Spacecraft Mission Operations Engineer to develop, coordinate, and execute on-orbit missions for their commercial spacecraft. You'll own the full lifecycle of mission operations, build automation tools in Python, and scale Varda's operational capabilities as flight cadence increases.
What you'll do
- Develop, coordinate, execute, and lead on-orbit missions for Varda's Winnie Spaceship
- Own complete ops development cycle for mission-unique payloads from profile creation through execution
- Collaborate across engineering disciplines to improve mission operations and ensure success
- Build web-based automation tools to reduce operational burden
- Scale operational capabilities to support growing flight cadence
- Work with avionics, GNC, software, and thermal teams on spacecraft systems
What they're looking for
- Python software development
- Real-time spacecraft operations
- Mission planning and execution
- Spacecraft systems knowledge (avionics, GNC, thermal)
- JavaScript and HTML
- Web tool development
- Cross-functional team collaboration
- Git and Atlassian products
Benefits
- Competitive salary $120,000-$170,000 annually
- Stock options under company equity incentive plan
- Flexible PTO policy plus 12 paid holidays
- Comprehensive health and wellness benefits
- On-site work in El Segundo, CA headquarters
- Opportunity to shape new mission operations framework
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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 leading real-time operations for a complex, high-consequence system and how you ensured mission success under pressure.
- Walk us through a time you automated an operational process—what tools did you use and what was the impact?