Ground Support Automation & Controls Engineer II
Vardaspace · El Segundo, California, United States
About this 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 in-house, including pharmaceutical processing payloads, capsules, C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses. **About This Role — Automation & Controls Engineer II** The Automation & Controls Engineer II builds bespoke test infrastructure that qualifies spaceflight hardware for orbit. You’ll design, build, and own sophisticated ground support equipment (GSE) and test systems—propulsion test stands, environmental qualification chambers, spacecraft-level integration testing, and more. Our stack is modern, including a custom PLC framework and Beckhoff EtherCAT tooling built in-house. You’ll meaningfully impact architecture decisions and help define standards that outlast any single program. **Responsibilities** - Design, build, and maintain test systems and GSE for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing operations. - Integrate with external hardware (e.g., thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, pressure systems, data acquisition hardware, precision instrumentation). - Develop and extend Varda’s internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling. - Contribute to architecture decisions for real-time control implementation (e.g., PLC-based TwinCAT 3 vs. Linux-based approaches for high-frequency control). - Build cabinets and wire panels; own systems end-to-end from electrical design through commissioning. - Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to deliver test infrastructure on aggressive timelines. - Champion sustainable engineering practices that help new engineers ramp quickly and keep production systems reliable. **Basic Qualifications** - Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (or related technical field). - 2+ years of industry experience in test automation, controls, and/or industrial automation. - Hands-on experience integrating industrial hardware over protocols such as EtherCAT, Modbus (TCP/RTU), RS-232/485 serial, or similar. - Experience with at least one modern PLC ecosystem—ideally Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 with structured text (IEC 61131-3)—or strong eagerness to develop deep expertise. - Comfort working across the full stack: electrical panel/cabinet design, wiring, hardware debugging, and control software. - Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment with shifting priorities and end-to-end ownership. **Preferred Skills and Experience** - Strong intuition for when to use real-time PLC code vs. higher-level Python orchestration. - Experience with custom/in-house control frameworks. - Advanced EtherCAT expertise (e.g., DC sync, ENI configuration, master implementation, or driver-level work). - Production experience with TwinCAT 3, structured text, and IEC 61131-3. - Experience designing deterministic hard real-time control loops with sub-millisecond cycle times. - Familiarity with time-series data acquisition/visualization (e.g., Grafana, InfluxDB). - Aerospace experience (spacecraft testing or GSE development). - Environmental test experience (TVAC, thermal cycling, vibration testing). - Hands-on experience with high-pressure gas or fluid systems. - Experience developing propulsion test stands or complex multi-subsystem test infrastructure. - Familiarity with spacecraft qualification standards and documentation
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