# Principal Fluid Systems Engineer - Payloads at Varda

- Company: Varda
- What the company does: Expanding the economic bounds of humankind with the world's first orbital manufacturing & reentry platform. Backed by General Catalyst, Khosla and Founders Fund.
- Company website: https://varda.com/
- Type: Startups
- Level: Principal and up
- Location: El Segundo, California, United States
- Work setup: On-site
- Pay: $182K to $232K base salary per year (USD)
- Posted: 2026-09-17
- Apply by: 2026-11-01
- Apply: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vardaspace/jobs/7997892003
- Page: https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/varda-principal-fluid-systems-engineer-payloads/

## About the role

As a Principal Fluid Systems Engineer on Varda's Payload team, you will define and lead the development of first-of-its-kind electromechanical fluid handling hardware that manufactures pharmaceuticals in microgravity, endures hypersonic reentry, and returns to Earth for material extraction. Your payloads will precisely meter, mix, filter, transport, and thermally control pharmaceutical materials in compact spacecraft-compatible hardware.

## What they're looking for

- BS/BEng in Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics, Biomedical, Chemical, or related engineering discipline
- 7+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting electromechanical hardware
- Deep mechanical and fluid systems expertise with breadth in at least two adjacent disciplines such as avionics, software, thermal, optics, test, precision instrumentation, etc
- Track record leading project teams through full-cycle electromechanical space flight hardware development
- Extensive experience with valves, pumps, pistons, tubing, manifolds, fittings, seals, filters, sensors, metering hardware, thermal-control hardware, and/or compact fluidic assemblies
- Excellent communication skills with customer, executive, and cross-disciplinary technical audiences

Tags: Payload & Mechanisms