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Varda Space Industries

Senior Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics Engineer

Varda Space Industries · El Segundo, California, United States

Posted about 3 months ago · $140,333- $179,314

or apply directly on Varda Space Industries's site. We never take the application ourselves.

Is this posting real?

This role has been open
81 days
Varda Space Industries's roles stay open a median of 81 days
Reposted
No
Salary listed
Yes
81% of Varda Space Industries's roles list one
Ghost-job risk at Varda Space Industries
high
85 stale, 0 reposted of 86 open
Hiring momentum
215 roles opened in the last 90 days
↑ up vs. the prior 90 days
Last confirmed on the employer's board
2026-10-23

Measured from postings appearing on and disappearing from Varda Space Industries's own greenhouse board since 2026-08-03. Full hiring picture for Varda Space Industries.

About this role

The Senior Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics Engineer at Varda will focus on supporting the operation and development of the company's reentry vehicles. Daily tasks include running high-speed computational fluid dynamics simulations, conducting wind tunnel campaigns, and collaborating across disciplines to ensure aerodynamic performance and database integrity. The role involves analyzing and synthesizing aerodynamic data to improve vehicle designs and performance assessments post-flight.

Our read on this posting4.2out of 5
benefits
5/5
freshness
1/5
career value
5/5
role clarity
5/5
pay transparency
5/5

Scored from the posting itself — how clearly the role is described, how much it says about pay and benefits, and how recently it was listed. Not a judgement of Varda Space Industries as an employer.

What you need

  • BS degree in engineering or physics and 6+ years of relevant industry experience, or a relevant PhD and 3+ years of relevant industry experience
  • Meaningful contribution to the aerodynamic development of a hypersonic vehicle that has flown, or is on track to fly within the next 5 years
  • Experience analyzing aerodynamic data from test, CFD, flight, and other sources and documenting findings rigorously
  • 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
  • Proficiency in MATLAB or Python

Nice to have

  • Advanced degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, specializing in aerodynamics or fluid mechanics
  • Hands-on wind tunnel campaign experience, including test planning, execution, and data reduction
  • Direct ownership of aerodynamic and aeroheating databases for a flying vehicle
  • Familiarity with modeling vehicle dynamics in POST2 or similar 6DOF tools
  • Experience sizing ablative or non-ablative TPS

What you get

  • Flexible PTO policy + 12 paid holidays
  • 100% company-paid Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plans for employees and dependents with FSA and employer-matched HSA options
  • Voluntary accident, hospital, critical illness, and pet insurance
  • $120/month wellness reimbursement for gym and fitness expenses
  • 12 weeks of parental leave (with supplemental disability leave for CA mothers)
  • Family building, pregnancy, parenting and menopause benefits via Maven Clinic

Worth weighing

  • The role requires U.S. citizenship due to security clearance requirements.
  • The position is on-site in El Segundo, CA, which may limit remote work flexibility.

Summarised from Varda Space Industries's posting. Read the full original.

Listed by Varda Space Industries on their greenhouse job board, last confirmed open on 2026-10-23. PitchMeAI is not the employer.

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