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Varda Space

In-orbit manufacturing with reentry return services

Materials and Process Engineer 2

Materials & StructuresUpdated on Nov 13
Full-timeEl Segundo, CA, USA

About the Job

Requirements

  • A B.S. in Materials Science, Mechanical, Chemical, or Aerospace Engineering (or similar), or equivalent demonstrated experience.
  • At least 1 year of materials, process, or manufacturing engineering experience in aerospace or another high-reliability industry.
  • A strong foundation in materials science, including metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, failure modes, corrosion mechanisms, and chemical compatibility with process chemicals.
  • Hands-on experience with at least one relevant process or lab method, such as composite layup and cure, bonding, coating, ablative or thermal protection system fabrication, wet chemical processing, welding, machining, mechanical testing, or metallography.
  • Working knowledge of basic statistics, including distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and regression.
  • Ability to read engineering drawings, material specifications, and test reports, and apply first-principles problem solving to diagnose process defects and drive corrective action.
  • Experience safely handling process chemicals, including acids, bases, and solvents, with proper personal protective equipment and procedures.
  • Ability to regularly lift 25 pounds, bend, stoop, and stand for extended periods while working directly with flight hardware.

Responsibilities

  • Establish, qualify, and maintain special processes for flight hardware, including ablative and thermal protection systems, coatings, polymers, composites, adhesives, and metallic structures.
  • Engineer and control wet chemical processes such as cleaning, etching, passivation, and conversion coating.
  • Implement corrosion prevention and control practices, and assess chemical compatibility among materials, process fluids, and service environments.
  • Design experiments, test methodologies, and pathfinder hardware to de-risk new processes; characterize results through mechanical, thermal, chemical, and microstructural testing; and apply statistical methods to define process windows.
  • Define tooling, fixtures, test equipment, cleanliness, contamination control, and material handling requirements for assigned processes and hardware.
  • Author and maintain Special Process Specifications, Process Qualification and Validation Records, and Control Plans.
  • Lead and support root cause and corrective action activities, material review boards, and failure review boards for material and process non-conformances, including corrosion, surface contamination, and defects found in nondestructive evaluation, testing, or inspection.
  • Perform failure analysis, including fractography, metallography, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and chemical analysis, in-house or through partner laboratories.

Desired Qualifications

  • A preferred M.S. or PhD in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related discipline.
  • Experience with ablative and high-temperature materials, including PICA, carbon-carbon, ceramic matrix composites, and silicone- or epoxy-based ablatives.
  • Experience with polymer and composite processing, including prepreg layup, autoclave and out-of-autoclave cure, resin infusion, potting, bonding, and cure kinetics.
  • Experience with coatings and surface treatments, including thermal barrier coatings, anodize, conversion coatings, passivation, paints, and primers, including surface preparation and adhesion testing.
  • Experience with corrosion testing, including salt spray, galvanic compatibility, crevice and stress corrosion, and electrochemical methods.
  • Experience with wet chemical processing, including bath chemistry control, high-purity deionized or reverse-osmosis water systems, and precision cleaning with cleanliness verification such as nonvolatile residue, particulate, and water-break testing.
  • Knowledge of aerospace metals, including stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, and nickel alloys, and their processing through heat treatment, welding, brazing, and finishing.
  • Experience with statistical methods, including statistical process control, gage repeatability and reproducibility, process capability indices, and design of experiments, using JMP, Minitab, Python, or similar tools.
  • Experience with thermal and chemical analysis, including differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy; mechanical testing such as tensile, flexure, shear, peel, and hardness; and nondestructive evaluation such as ultrasonic, dye penetrant, X-ray, and thermography, with strong results interpretation.
  • Experience writing material and process specifications, test reports, and engineering memos.
  • Experience supporting process qualification, first article builds, and root cause and corrective action activities.
  • Familiarity with space-environment materials and processes requirements, including outgassing, contamination control, electrical bonding and grounding, and standards such as AWS, ASTM, AMS, and MMPDS.

About the Company

Varda Space

In-orbit manufacturing with reentry return services

Varda Space Industries provides in-space manufacturing by operating production facilities in low Earth orbit and returning finished goods to Earth using reentry capsules. Clients send materials or designs to Varda’s in-orbit production line, where microgravity enables manufacturing processes not possible on Earth. After production, capsules re-enter Earth's atmosphere to deliver goods back to customers, supported by in-orbit equipment and reliable reentry systems. The company aims to make low Earth orbit accessible for multiple industries by building end-to-end space manufacturing infrastructure and industrializing orbit for commercial use.

Company size
201-500
Company stage
Series D
Total funding
$609.5M
Headquarters
El Segundo, CA
Founded
2020

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