Payloads - Principal Fluid Systems Engineer

• Define requirements, architecture, and development plans for pharmaceutical manufacturing payloads
• Establish fluid system design standards for component selection and qualification, sealing, contamination control, thermal control, and verification/validation
• Lead project teams to develop of precision fluid systems incorporating valves, pumps, pistons, manifolds, tubing, fittings, seals, filters, sensors, and thermal control systems
• Drive system-level analyses, trade studies, and risk reduction using a variety of tools (hand calcs, Python/MATLAB models, FEA, etc. as needed)
• Lead build and test campaigns for prototypes and flight hardware to characterize performance and reliability
• Synthesize cross-functional inputs from business development, pharmaceutical science, process engineering, and spacecraft subsystem teams to develop requirements for new pharmaceutical payloads
• Develop standards for subsystem requirements, ICDs, verification plans, test reports, and recovery procedures
• Represent Varda in technical discussions with internal leadership, external partners, customers, and government stakeholders
• Lead continuous improvement and incorporation of lessons learned
• Mentor senior and entry-level engineers and shape best practices

Fluid Systems Engineering, Wheel/Front-End Loader, Requirements Management, Wheel/Front-End Loader, Drug Manufacturing, Drug Development, Fluid Systems Engineering, Component Selection, Thermal Management, Validation Testing, * 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

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 3+ years of cross-functional project leadership experience
• Prior full-cycle technical leadership of precision fluid-handling hardware for relevant applications
• In Space: ECLSS, low-thrust propulsion, astronaut suits, spacecraft thermal control, etc.
• On Earth: semiconductor process equipment, biotech process equipment, analytical instruments, medical devices, etc.
• Extensive experience planning and executing aerospace environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, EMI/EMC)
• Familiarity with microgravity fluid behavior, capillary-driven flows, gas/liquid separation, two-phase flow, cGMP principles, cleanroom practices, or regulated hardware environments