About the role

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. Varda's W-Series vehicles are built, designed, and operated by Varda in-house, including the pharmaceutical processing payloads, the capsules, the C-PICA heat shields, and the satellite buses.

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.

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

About This Role

As a Senior Materials and Process Engineer at Varda, you will have the opportunity to use your deep technical expertise to define and qualify the materials and special processes behind our reentry vehicles as we scale from a few bespoke builds to many consistent, concurrent vehicles. This role owns the development, qualification, and control of processes for flight hardware, including ablative and thermal protection systems (TPS), coatings, polymers, composites, adhesives, wet chemical processing, corrosion control, and metallic structures.

The Senior Materials and Process Engineer authors the specifications, process qualification records, and control plans that Varda and its suppliers build to, leads RCCAs, MRB, and failure investigations for material and process non-conformances, and uses statistical methods to define process windows and acceptance criteria. You will make sound decisions quickly without established infrastructure, influence material decisions across teams, and mentor and help hire engineers. Materials and Process Engineers are a vital part of increasing Varda's build cadence, working directly with design engineers, technicians, and suppliers across the full range of materials and processes required to manufacture our vehicles. The focus of the job is to drive incremental improvement in the quality and repeatability of every vehicle Varda produces.

Responsibilities

Establish, qualify, and maintain special processes for flight hardware, including ablative and thermal protection systems (TPS), coatings, polymers, composites, adhesives, and metallic structures
Engineer and control wet chemical processes such as cleaning, etching, passivation, and conversion coating
Implement corrosion prevention and control practices, and assess chemical compatibility among materials, process fluids, and service environments
Design experiments, test methodologies, and pathfinder hardware to de-risk new processes, then characterize results through mechanical, thermal, chemical, and microstructural testing and apply statistical methods to define process windows
Define tooling, fixtures, test equipment, cleanliness, contamination control, and material handling requirements for assigned processes and hardware
Author and maintain Special Process Specifications, Process Qualification and Validation Records, and Control Plans
Lead and support RCCAs, MRB, and failure review boards for material and process non-conformances, including corrosion, surface contamination, and defects found in NDE, test, or inspection; perform failure analysis (fractography, metallography, SEM/EDS, chemical analysis) in-house or through partner labs

Pay Range

Salary Range: Senior: $140,333 - $202,703/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 incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards

E-Verify Statement

Varda Space Industries, Inc. participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify program. The E-Verify program is an Internet-based employment eligibility verification system operated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Learn more about the E-Verify program.

E-Verify Notice Right To Work Notice

Requirements

Basic Qualifications

B.S. in Materials Science, Metallurgical, Chemical, Mechanical, or a related engineering discipline, or demonstrated equivalent expertise
3+ years of process and materials engineering in aerospace, semiconductor, or another high-reliability industry
Track record of developing and qualifying processes and materials for flight or safety-critical hardware, including first article builds and compliance with industry standards (AWS, AMS, ASTM, or similar)
Deep expertise in at least one area: ablatives and TPS, composites, polymers and adhesives, coatings and surface treatment, wet chemical processing, welding metallurgy, heat treat, additive, or NDE
Working knowledge of aerospace metals (stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, nickel alloys), including heat treatment, welding, brazing, and finishing
Command of corrosion mechanisms (galvanic, crevice, pitting, stress corrosion, hydrogen embrittlement) and chemical compatibility of materials with process fluids and service environments
Hands-on development and control of wet chemical processes, including bath chemistry, water quality, precision cleaning, cleanliness verification, and handling of hazardous, reactive, or oxidizing fluids
Skill in thermal, chemical, mechanical, and NDE characterization, including interpreting results to define process windows
Proficiency in applied statistics (DOE, SPC, process capability, MSA, regression, statistical tolerancing), including establishing material allowables (e.g., A-basis and B-basis), acceptance criteria, and sampling plans
Leadership of RCCAs, failure analysis, and material dispositions, including selecting and interpreting lab methods (fractography, metallography, SEM/EDS, chemical analysis) and driving cross-functional investigations
Background developing control plans and special processes, and leading PFMEAs
Authorship of specifications, design guidance, acceptance criteria, and drawing callouts released to internal teams and suppliers
Familiarity with setting M&P requirements for the space environment, including outgassing and contamination control, electrical bonding and grounding, thermal cycling, and UV exposure
Strong technical writing, including specifications, test reports, and investment cases
Sound, rapid decision-making without established infrastructure, plus the credibility to influence material decisions owned by other teams and to hire and mentor engineers
Must be physically able to regularly lift 25 lbs., bend, stoop, and stand for extended periods while working directly with flight hardware

Preferred Skills and Experience

M.S. or Ph.D. in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related discipline
Background in ablative, thermal protection, and thermal barrier materials for reentry, hypersonic, or propulsion applications, including characterization (arc jet, thermal conductivity, recession, char behavior)
Hands-on polymer and composite processing at scale (cure cycle development, cure kinetics, void and porosity control)
Knowledge of spacecraft thermal control and finishing systems (MLI films, metallizations, anodize per MIL-A-8625, conversion coating per MIL-DTL-5541, plating, fluoropolymer coatings) and their effects on bonding and outgassing
Design, qualification, or specification of wet process lines and high-purity water systems, including waste handling and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) compliance
Depth in high-test peroxide (HTP) systems, including compatibility classes, passivation and conditioning, stabilizer and contaminant effects, catalyst bed materials, active-oxygen-loss testing, decomposition modeling, and diagnosing elevated decomposition or corrosion (propellant assay, trace-metal analysis)
Proficiency with other strong oxidizers and hypergols (LOX, N2O, N2O4/MON, hydrazines), including oxygen-service cleaning standards (ASTM G93, G88, IEST-STD-CC1246) and oxidizer-compatible polymers, elastomers, and lubricants (PTFE, PCTFE, FKM/FFKM, PEEK, dry-film, galling-resistant pairs)
Familiarity with pharmaceutical or bioprocess materials (product-contact selection, ASME BPE, extractables and leachables, USP Class VI / ISO 10993, cleaning validation, potent-compound containment)
Development of accelerated corrosion test programs and correlation of results to service environments
Fluency in advanced statistical methods (Bayesian, mixed-effects, Weibull, Monte Carlo) and advanced characterization (XRD, CT, XPS)
Track record scaling processes to production build rates and qualifying and auditing special-process suppliers (NADCAP or similar)
History of building a process and materials function, including an approved materials and processes list, a materials usage agreement process, and an in-house materials lab
Recognized subject-matter expertise, with a record of setting technical direction and standards beyond a single program, including cross-discipline chief-engineer or standards roles, publications, patents, or standards-committee participation

ITAR Requirements

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. Because our employees are provided access to export-controlled items, our 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).