Senior Fluid Systems Engineer - Pharmaceutical Payloads
$140,000–$180,000 year
On-site · El Segundo, California, United States
Job Summary
Senior Fluid Systems Engineer on Varda's Payload team will develop first of its kind electromechanical fluid-handling hardware that manufactures pharmaceuticals in microgravity, endures hypersonic reentry, and returns to Earth for material extraction. You will own the full payload lifecycle—from concept through design, integration, launch, in-orbit operation, reentry, and recovery—while leading the design of precision fluid systems (valves, pumps, pistons, manifolds, tubing, fittings, seals, filters, sensors, and thermal-control systems). You will independently perform fluid, thermal, structural, and mechanism analyses (hand calcs, Python/MATLAB models, and FEA as needed); build, instrument, and test prototypes and flight hardware; integrate cross-functional inputs; develop subsystem requirements, ICDs, verification plans, test reports, and recovery procedures; drive continuous improvement; and mentor entry-level engineers and interns.
Required Qualifications
- BS/BEng in Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics, Biomedical, Chemical, or related engineering discipline
- 4+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting electromechanical hardware
- Strong mechanical and fluid systems expertise with breadth in at least one adjacent discipline such as avionics, software, thermal, optics, test, precision instrumentation, etc.
- Experience delivering hardware for rigorous environments such as aerospace, defense, semiconductor manufacturing, or biotech manufacturing
- Experience with valves, pumps, pistons, tubing, manifolds, fittings, seals, filters, sensors, metering hardware, thermal-control hardware, and/or compact fluidic assemblies
- Ability to independently define tasks, manage schedules, and deliver integrated hardware
- Excellent cross-disciplinary communication skills
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