Varda was founded under the belief manufacturing in zero-gravity is critical to unlocking new materials. We are actively working on spacecraft and technologies to make this possible and expand humanity's manufacturing capabilities.
The ideal candidate will lead the aerodynamic development of Varda's next reentry vehicle - from rarefied entry, to hypersonic maneuvering, and subsonic terminal approach. The candidate must have experience with: 6-DOF reentry vehicle dynamics, hypersonic computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, and running wind tunnel campaigns. The ideal candidate should have been involved in the aerodynamic development of a currently-flying vehicle from cradle to grave.
Basic Qualifications:
- BS in an engineering of physics & 5+ years of relevant industry experience
- Significant contribution to aerodynamic development of a hypersonic vehicle that has flown or is expected to fly in the next 5 years
- Managed an aerodynamic or flight program that collected data from: test, CFD, flight, and other sources
- Experience running CFD and DSMC simulations of hypersonic and subsonic flows: (Fun3D, Laura, DPLR, US3D, Sparta, DAC, CBAero)
- Comfortable building structured and unstructured meshes in Pointwise
- Experience with Matlab, or Python languages
- Experience with wind tunnel campaigns
- Experience developing an aerodynamic database for a vehicle from scratch
- Basic technical breadth across other disciplines (avionics, software, GNC, etc.).
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with an aptitude for interdisciplinary technical communication.
- Must be able to obtain a security clearance
Preferred Experience:
- MS or PhD degrees in Aerospace or Mechanical engineering, specializing in aerodynamics or fluid mechanics
- Familiarity with modeling vehicle dynamics in POST2 or similar tools
- Experience sizing ablative or non-ablative TPS
- Experience with flight reconstruction and post-flight performance evaluations.
- Experience with flight testing of new aerodynamic features and concepts.
- Hold a secret or TS clearance.
Pay Range- Principal Aerodynamics Engineer: $192,500.00 - $221,375.00/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