Director, Mechanisms Engineering - Pharmaceutical Payloads

About this Role

As Director, Mechanisms Engineering - Pharmaceutical Payloads at Varda, you will build and lead the team responsible for Varda's in-orbit pharmaceutical manufacturing payloads—the core of Varda's commercial business. This role combines deep technical authority with team leadership, product definition, and development execution responsibility. You will own the successful development and flight of precision electromechanical fluid-handling systems that process and crystallize pharmaceutical compounds in microgravity—then survive hypersonic reentry and return to Earth for product recovery and hardware iteration. The payloads your team designs, builds, and flies will directly determine whether in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing becomes a commercial reality.

You will build and grow a team of payload engineers responsible for individual pharmaceutical payload missions while also owning the technical definition and evolution of Varda's pharma payload product line. This includes defining the system architecture, fluid system design philosophy, and development approach, and establishing the engineering standards and processes that enable reliable execution as Varda scales in both cadence and scope.

You'll expand Varda's pharmaceutical payload capability to a scaled, repeatable product line—building the team, technical standards, and development processes to get there.

This role is ideal for a technically exceptional leader who wants to build an elite team and own the first ever industrial manufacturing capability in space from strategy through execution.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead a team of payload engineers, each responsible for executing individual pharmaceutical payload missions
• Mentor engineers and develop future technical and people leaders
• Own the pharmaceutical payload development roadmap—expanding Varda's pharmaceutical product portfolio, driving design iteration from flight data, and scaling mission cadence
• Own pharmaceutical payload engineering execution against company goals and customer contracts, including schedule, cost, and technical performance
• Manage a portfolio of concurrent payload development efforts and recurring mission executions, ensuring schedule, technical performance, and engineering quality across the portfolio
• Define and maintain standards for payload design, analysis, integration, testing, mission execution, documentation, and project management
• Work closely with avionics, software, thermal, systems, integration, and vehicle teams to define payload interfaces and constraints
• Standardize processes for environmental test campaigns, mission operations, post-flight hardware inspection, and anomaly resolution
• Drive continuous improvement through lessons learned and feedback from flight programs

Basic Qualifications

• BS/BEng in Mechanical, Aerospace, Biomedical, Mechatronics, or a related engineering discipline
• 10+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and delivering complex electromechanical hardware involving precision fluid handling
• 3+ years of experience leading teams through full-cycle hardware development
• Experience with electromechanical fluid systems in high-reliability or extreme environments (space, life support, medical devices, semiconductor process equipment, bioprocess systems)
• Breadth across at least two adjacent hardware disciplines (e.g., avionics, mechanisms, software, structures, thermal, optics, test, etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to set technical direction and deliver results through other engineers
• Track record managing multiple concurrent engineering development efforts
• Experience establishing and enforcing technical and programmatic standards across teams
• Exceptional communication ability with diverse technical and executive audiences

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Professional or academic exposure to chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, or a related process engineering discipline
• Experience building, scaling, or managing hardware engineering teams
• Experience owning technical roadmaps or standardized hardware product offerings
• Experience developing or operating hardware for pharmaceutical, bioprocess, or sterile/cleanroom manufacturing applications
• Familiarity with microgravity fluid behavior, capillary-driven flows, or two-phase fluid management
• Familiarity with cGMP principles or regulated hardware environments
• Significant experience planning and executing environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, EMI/EMC)

Pay Range

• Salary range: $200,000 - $250,000/per year
• This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA
• Leveling and base salary is determined by job-related skills, education level, experience level, and job performance
• You will be eligible for incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards