Aboutย The Roleย ย
We'reย looking for a Senior Mission Software Engineer to own and evolveย Varda'sย critical ground segment software,ย and the platform it runs on,ย that enables spacecraft operations. This role sits at the intersection of telemetry and commanding, data acquisition and distribution, mission control interfaces,ย simulationย and test automation,ย withย reliable deployment across lab, test range, and mission operations environments.ย You'llย work hands-on with flight software, avionics, RF/ground systems, and mission ops.ย
What You'll Doย
Own Ground Segment Services:ย Develop andย maintainย high-reliability services for telemetry ingestion, scaling, distribution, and commanding. Ensure deterministic behavior for real-time operations and post-flight analysis.ย
Mission Control Interfaces:ย Deliver operator-grade UIs and dashboards thatย optimizeย "ops time" and reduce cognitive load across integration, test, and on-orbit operations phases.ย
Simulation and Test Automation:ย Build tools to run flight-software simulations, device emulators, and scenario-based automated testsย -ย enabling fast, safe iteration for avionics, GNC, and operations teams.ย
Build the Mission Platform:ย Design, implement, and productionize software for mission and ground software teams. Standardize CI/CD pipelines, artifact management, service templates, infrastructure-as-code, simulation and hardware-in-the-loop frameworks, test harnesses, and observability - all delivered as self-service tooling.ย
Deployments Across Environments:ย Create robust deployment patterns for lab benches, test stands, and mission networks. Implement safe rollout/rollback strategies and air-gapped or limited-connectivity deployment approaches.ย
What We're Looking Forย
Requiredย - Expertiseย in Python
- Strong systems fundamentals: concurrency, networking, performance, reliability
- Experience building real-time data acquisition, scaling, and distribution services - low-latency messaging, time-series and relational stores
- Hands-on with CI/CD, dependency/build systems, and infrastructure-as-code
- End-to-end observability: logging, metrics, tracing
- Docker/Kubernetes; release management, phased rollouts, and operational readiness for controlled networksย
Nice to Haveย
- Proficiencyย in C++
- Proficiency with Ansible
- Experience with NiceGUI
- DAQ and closed-loop control experience (lab/test control environments)
- Prior work on CI/testing/simulation/data tools integrated with flight software teams
- Familiarity with requirements, test, and certification artifacts from safety-critical or certified workflows
- Ground systems standards; security in mission networks
- Experience building mission-grade UIs with structured command workflows, alarming, and situational awarenessย
Pay Range- Salary range: $169,000 - $217,000/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
- Offer compensation also includes the ability to receive stock options under the Company's Equity Incentive Plan.