Lead, Sales Operations

About Varda

Low Earth orbit is open for business. Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules. 

From life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics, there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. Varda is accelerating innovation in the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind. 

Our team is uniquely suited to accomplishing this goal, with leadership and staff comprised of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with significant backing from world class investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, and Also Capital. 

Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, where we have offices and a production facility where our vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested. Varda also has offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL (coming soon).

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

About This Role

Varda is scaling two distinct, high-complexity business lines: government contracting (DoW/NASA) and commercial pharmaceutical research and production. To navigate this dual-use market, our Business org requires a sophisticated operating system, not just a spreadsheet.

We are looking for a Sales Operations Lead to own the digital infrastructure of our revenue engine. This role is less about writing the words in a proposal and more about architecting the systems that make the proposal process possible. You will manage our Salesforce instance, build bespoke workflows in Airtable, and implement next-generation AI tooling to automate pipeline tracking and analytics.

You will be the primary interface between the deal-makers (BD), finance and the executive team. Your job is to ensure that our pipeline data is pristine, our forecasting is rigorous, and that the translation of "signed contract" to "recognized revenue" is seamless. This is a role for a builder who loves clean data, optimized tooling, and the satisfaction of a perfectly automated workflow.

Responsibilities

• Tooling Architecture & Administration: Serve as the primary administrator for Salesforce, Airtable, and their connections to the Atlassian stack. You will configure fields, manage integrations, and build automations that minimize data entry and maximize data utility for the BD, Marketing, and Gov Affairs teams.
• Pipeline Analytics & Forecasting: Transform raw CRM data into actionable insights. You will own the weekly, monthly, and quarterly reporting cadence, providing Leadership with a "single source of truth" regarding bookings, weighted pipeline, and contract backlog.
• Finance & Operations Interfacing: Partner closely with the Finance team to reconcile bookings against revenue targets. You will ensure that CRM data structures support accurate financial reporting, billing triggers, and resource planning.
• AI & Automation Implementation: Actively scout and implement new AI-based tooling to modernize our sales stack. You will look for ways to use LLMs and agents to automate competitor tracking, RFP parsing, and CRM hygiene. 
• Process Optimization: Relentlessly hunt for friction in the sales cycle. Whether it’s streamlining internal deal approvals or automating NDA generation, your goal is to give time back to the BD team so they can focus on the customer. Data Hygiene & Governance: maintain the integrity of our customer data. You will enforce standards for data entry and clean up historical data to ensure our decision-making is based on reality, not guess work.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Information Systems, or a related field.
• 4+ years of experience in Sales Operations, Revenue Operations, or Business Systems in a high-growth technology or aerospace environment.
• Advanced Tooling Proficiency: Deep experience administering Salesforce (building flows, dashboards, permission sets) and Airtable (interfaces, automations).
• Financial Literacy: Strong understanding of how sales data connects to financial statements (bookings vs. revenue, ACV/TCV, backlog management).
• Analytical Rigor: Proficiency with Excel/Google Sheets (complex modeling) and BI tools. You are comfortable manipulating large datasets to find trends. 
• U.S. Citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S. to conform with U.S. Government space technology export regulations under ITAR.

Preferred Skills And Experience

• Experience implementing AI agents or LLM-based workflows into business operations.
• Background in "RevOps" at a Series B/C SaaS or deep-tech company.
• Experience using SQL or Python for data analysis and automation.
• Familiarity with the nuances of Government contracting (understanding how IDIQ and OTA contract vehicles interact with CRM structures).
• A dislike for manual tasks; if you have to do it three times, you write a script or build an automation to do it for you.

Pay Range

• Salary range: $140,000.00 - $180,000.00/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA or Washington, DC (based on candidate's preference)
• 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