Applications Engineer - Engineering

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 by Varda in-house, including the pharmaceutical processing payloads, the capsules, the C-PICA heat shields, and the satellite buses.

From life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics, there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. Varda is accelerating innovation in the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind.

Our team is uniquely suited to accomplishing this goal, with leadership and staff comprised of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with significant backing from world class investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, and Also Capital. Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, where we have offices and a production facility where our vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested.

Varda also has offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL. Join Varda, and work to create a bustling in-space ecosystem.

About This Role

Varda is seeking an Engineering Applications Engineer to join our team. In this role, you will be responsible for leading efforts to develop, deploy, improve, and manage all Engineering applications. You will manage the implementation of these solutions through the entire product life cycle from opportunity identification to support and sustainment.

You will work cross-functionally with multiple engineering teams across Varda to ensure tools are integrated, compliant, and scaled to support hardware and software development workflows. Projects will include a wide range of desired outcomes, including cycle time reduction, cost reduction, improved decision-making, risk reduction, configuration control, and other key operational efficiencies. Your contributions will immediately impact engineering operations and have an opportunity to contribute to Varda's overall growth and success.

This role will report to the Director of Enterprise Applications. This is a full-time, exempt position located in our El Segundo headquarters.

Responsibilities

Own the engineering systems stack (PLM, CAD/PDM, MBSE, change management), including daily admin, data integrity, configuration control, vendor escalations, and release cycles. Map and re-engineer engineering workflows to eliminate manual handoffs and improve data capture at the source. Build internal applications (low-code and custom-built) and ETL pipelines that connect engineering tools into the broader enterprise data layer.

Design analytics dashboards and reports in Power BI, SQL, and Python to surface decisions for engineering and manufacturing leaders. Build, pilot, and deploy AI-powered tools, including LLM-based agents and generative tooling to streamline engineering workflows. Support AS9100 and CMMC compliance documentation, and partner with IT/Infosec on access and audit readiness.

Lead training and enablement that drives adoption and reduces shadow IT across engineering.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field. 3+ years of experience supporting or managing enterprise engineering applications (PLM, CAD/PDM, MBSE, or engineering change management tools). Proficiency in SQL and at least one scripting/programming language (Python, JavaScript, or similar).

Demonstrated experience building reports and dashboards in a BI platform (Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent).

Requirements

directly from end users and iterati