Senior RF Hardware Engineer

About Varda

The environment of space hold the potential to craft products that profoundly enhance life on Earth. Varda is at the forefront of this endeavor, harnessing the unique environment of low earth orbit to produce these innovations and reintroduce them to our world. Our mission transcends mere exploration; we're expanding the economic horizons of humanity.

At Varda, you'll be positioned at the nexus of ambition and expertise. Our seasoned team, with its rich legacy in aerospace and technology, has honed its skills in the corridors of industry giants. Here, your contributions will be both cherished and critiqued by leaders who, with a wealth of experience behind them, are now devoted to the realm of extraterrestrial manufacturing.

While our aspirations soar high, our path is grounded in technical pragmatism and operational viability. Our conceptual operations are crystalline material processing and reentry, backed by years of research and development anchored in the International Space Station's, and commercial space sectors expansive achievements.

Join Varda, and work to finally create a bustling in-space ecosystem.

About this Role 

As a Sr. RF Hardware Engineer at Varda, you will be a leader of our satellite vehicle comms system. You’ll own the end to end hardware allowing our satellite to make contact with the ground, including the up and down link radios, amplifiers, passives, and antennas.

Some people say that you only have one chance to fly to space so you must be certain it will work. At Varda, we believe that the trip to space and back is the easiest trip our hardware takes. We stress our components above and beyond the levels it should expect to see in flight and we investigate our failures thoroughly. Come join our team and build quality electronics that you will get to see fly over and over again.

Responsibilities 

• Avionics subject matter expert for satellite bus comms network. You’ll be responsible for the architecture and hardware ownership
• Responsible engineer for the satellite radio. Scope, design, and own the component through the full product lifecycle. Innovate fault tolerance and bring your spin on reliability for our application.
• Actively collaborate with flight software and other subsystem subject matter experts on overall system needs and constraints.
• Ultimate ownership of product acceptance and qualification testing for space environments (Thermal, Vibe, Shock, TVAC, and EMI) with support from the Avionics Test team.
• Collaborate with mechanical designers on packaging and integration for hardware – design for easy assembly, environments robustness, and repeatability.
• Provide direction on system-level validation tests and integration test plans to verify the vehicle is ready for flight.
• Perform root cause analysis on test failures and implement holistic mitigation strategies for flight risks.
• Mentor junior engineers on their projects, challenges, and design methodologies setting a high bar for the future leaders of Varda.

Basic Qualifications 

• B.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineer or related field with 6+ years of direct experience in electronics hardware development.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to vehicle avionics architectures and bringing them to flight.
• Strong hands-on experience with VNAs, oscilloscopes, function generators, benchtop digital multimeters, and power supplies.
• Proven experience developing electrical circuit boards and delivering a working product.
• Knowledge of signal integrity, power, grounding, and general board layout principles.
• Experience programming in Python, MATLAB, or another scripting/data analysis language.
• Deep understanding of state-of-the-art communication protocols, their standards, and a demonstrated ability to implement across a vehicle architecture

Preferred Skills and Experience 

• B.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineer or related field with 6+ years of direct experience in electronics hardware development.
• Strong hands-on experience with VNAs, spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, function generators, benchtop digital multimeters, and power supplies.
• Knowledge of signal integrity, power, grounding, and general board layout principles.
• Experience programming in Python, MATLAB, or another scripting/data analysis language.
• Deep understanding of state-of-the-art communication protocols, their standards, and a demonstrated ability to implement across a vehicle architecture

Pay Range

• $160,000.00 - $195,000.00/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to purchase company stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan

• Varda, like all employers, must ensure that its employees working in the United States are lawfully authorized to work in the U.S.  Additionally, our employees are exposed to and have access to certain export-controlled items. At present, some of our technology to which employees have access requires a license to be exported to individuals other than “U.S. Persons” as defined in U.S. export regulations. Because our employees are provided access to export-controlled items, our current policy is to only hire “U.S. persons” who are permitted to have access to our technology without an export license. 

  “US person” means: U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) (i.e., individual admitted to the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum in the U.S.)

   Learn more about the ITAR here.  

Benefits