Director, Payloads Systems, Integration, & Test

About this role

As Director of Payload Systems Integration and Test, you will lead and grow a team of multidisciplinary engineers responsible for end-to-end mission success of a diverse portfolio of payloads, such as inertial, RF, and optical sensors and communication systems, as well as various types of pharmaceutical processing payloads. This role combines deep technical authority with team leadership, product definition, and customer delivery

responsibility. You will own the successful execution of multiple concurrent payload missions, delivering flight hardware that operates in orbit, survives hypersonic reentry, and returns to Earth – reliably and at scale.

Your team will serve as the technical bridge between each payload and the Varda vehicle, defining interfaces, planning and executing payload integration and test campaigns, coordinating in-orbit operations, and ensuring safe recovery of payload data and hardware. When payloads require special accommodations or vehicle modifications, your team will work across the vehicle engineering team to scope and implement these changes.

As Director, you will manage day-to-day execution across the team, in addition to hiring and headcount planning, new project scoping, and development of standard workflows and processes. You will also own and evolve the Varda Payload User Guide, defining standard interfaces and accommodations for hosted payloads, and developing a roadmap that expands the set of customers and use cases Varda can support while simultaneously growing mission cadence.

Responsibilities

Build and lead the Payload Systems Integration & Test team, hiring and developing engineers across a range of experience levels

Own integration and test for Varda's internal pharmaceutical processing payloads: test planning, functional and process verification, contamination control, and environmental qualification of fluidic and thermal flight hardware

Partner closely with Payload & Mechanisms development engineers on pharma payload designs, staying engaged early enough in the design cycle to shape testability, and supporting the fast iteration these programs run on

Take ambiguous customer mission objectives and determine how to meet them with the existing platform, or scope the non-recurring engineering needed and bring in the right development teams

Own payload interface definition and requirements: ICDs, interface verification, and the standards documentation (payload user guide) that external customers and internal teams work from

Plan and execute payload integration and test campaigns across both lines, including interface verification, functional testing, and environmental qualification (random vibration, thermal vacuum, EMI/EMC, shock)

Work with the production crew building and integrating payload hardware, and establish the cleanroom practices both lines depend on

Coordinate with Vehicle Integration & Test as a sister function, sharing practices and infrastructure where it makes sense while maintaining distinct practices where appropriate

Work with Mission Management to hit contract milestones and customer commitments, and serve as the technical face to customers through the mission lifecycle

Support payload operations through flight, reentry, and recovery

Establish and mature the processes, documentation, and cleanroom practices that let payload integration scale with mission cadence

Basic Qualifications

10+ years of spacecraft or aerospace hardware experience spanning integration, test, and mission execution

Demonstrated ability to take poorly-defined technical problems and turn them into executable plans, interfaces, and requirements

Hands-on experience planning and running environmental qualification campaigns on flight hardware

Strong interface engineering background: ICDs, requirements flow-down, interface verification across organizational boundaries

Experience leading engineers, including hiring and developing early-career talent

Breadth across mechanical, thermal, fluidic, electrical, and software interfaces, with enough depth to be a credible technical backstop for the team

Cleanroom operations and contamination control

Customer-facing experience: scoping work, managing execution schedules, setting expectations, and negotiating technical commitments

B.S. in a relevant engineering discipline

Preferred Qualifications

Active TS/SCI security clearance, or eligibility to be granted one

Test and verification experience with fluidic, thermal, or process hardware (pharmaceutical, biological, chemical, or life sciences payloads)

Experience with payload accommodation on a hosted or rideshare platform

Reentry, recovery, or landed-vehicle experience

Defense or government program experience

Experience standing up a new function or team

M.S. in aerospace, mechanical, chemical, or systems engineering

Pay Range

Salary range: $185,640 - $251,160/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