Senior Electromechanical Engineer

About this Role

As a Senior Electromechanical Engineer, you will have full ownership of a range of both manufacturing and research payloads within our reentry vehicle.  In this position, you will drive electromechanical hardware development including design, analysis, build, and testing at sub and full system levels.  You will have significant freedom on the platform design while driving the full product lifecycle from concept to completion. 

Varda payloads serve a range of customers, so you’ll need to be comfortable operating across technical domains as either as the expert or as the technical lead while pulling in internal Varda experts as required to guarantee successful delivery.  Typical electromechanical support falls into one of several categories -

• Pharmaceutical payloads: In this capacity, you will work with Varda’s product team to develop spacecraft-compatible pharmaceutical equipment to manufacture novel drugs in space and return them to Earth. In other words, you’ll build our space factories! 
• Research and development payloads: In this capacity, you will work closely with the mission management team to serve government and commercial customers interested in using our reentry vehicle to test novel flight hardware (avionics, materials, sensors, etc.). This will involve making modifications to our vehicle as required to meet customer requirements and developing custom hardware to support these efforts
• Next Gen Manufacturing Platforms: We use microgravity to make products that are impossible to make on Earth. You’ll build the factories

Given the diversity of technical challenges you may face, you are likely a broad technical generalist with depth in one or more of structures, mechanisms/mechatronics, fluid systems, and/or avionics and a strong interest in learning new skills as you go. 

Responsibilities

• Derive hardware requirements and perform initial design trades given open-ended problem statements and stakeholder feedback
• Evaluate the global impact of hardware design decisions ensure the best system-level solution
• Work closely with customers, product engineers/scientists, and flight hardware engineers (thermal, avionics, structures, software, integration, etc.) to evaluate and optimize payloads for their intended applications
• Drive the full development cycle of a variety of payloads (electromechanical, fluid systems, avionics, etc.) to meet defined product or customer requirements. This includes architecture definition, component selection, system design, analysis, testing, qualification, etc.
• Own the hardware delivery timeline and overall success from concept to launch

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant technical field with 5+ years of professional experience in related applications (e.g., lab equipment, aerospace systems, medical devices, thermal management systems, etc.) 
• Ability to perform appropriate fluid, structural, and thermal analyses to demonstrate that a payload design meets requirements (e.g., Hand Calcs, Excel, Ansys, Femap, Nastran, Comsol, etc.)
• Excellent 3D CAD skills (ideally NX) and experience translating models to production intent (detailed drawings, work instructions, etc.) 
• Ability to drive integrated subsystem development with inputs from technical contributors across avionics, structures, software, GNC, systems, thermal, integration and test, etc. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with an aptitude for interdisciplinary technical communication 
• Ability to successfully respond to evolving requirements in a fast-moving organization 
• Excitement about making history at the forefront of both the space and pharmaceutical industries 
• Knowledge of electro-mechanical components including motors, valves, servo devices, and sensors
• Hands-on project experience with complex mechanical systems
• Understanding of GD&T and manufacturing processes
• Understanding of system impacts to component design decisions including packaging, thermal, environmental, and loads

Preferred Skills And Experience

• 7+ years of experience design structures or mechanical systems 
• Proven track record of delivering products to market
• Project management or technical project leadership experience 
• Experience with aerospace hardware development practices (e.g., qualification testing practices, design for typical space environments, cleanliness, etc.)
• Concept to delivery ownership of a complex electromechanical fluid system. Bonus points if this system operated in space! 
• Experience working with electromechanical components including valves, motors, pumps, etc., ideally at small scales
• Ability to design and implement subsystem development tests as needed to guide overall hardware development
• Experience working on highly integrated systems (i.e. software, electrical, mechanical, thermal, fluids, optics)
• Familiarity with sensors such as mass, FTIR, or Raman spectrometers and/or optical microscopes

Pay Range

• Sr. Electromechanical Engineer: $135,000 - $185,000 per year
• On site role located in El Segundo, CA