Technical Recruiter

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
We’re looking for a Technical Recruiter who thrives on sourcing hard-to-find engineering talent. You’ll own the sourcing strategy and top-of-funnel health for key hardware disciplines such as avionics, propulsion, thermal, structures, mechanisms, or manufacturing. This is an execution-first role. You’ll spend most of your time in the market, mainly in LinkedIn Recruiter, identifying, engaging, and screening candidates to build strong pipelines as we scale.
Responsibilities
Manage 4-8 active searches at once, keeping pipelines full and moving.
Source engineering talent proactively through LinkedIn Recruiter, Gem, referrals, and other channels, with a focus on passive candidates.
Write outreach messages and run recruiter screens that assess engineering fundamentals, systems thinking, and hardware integration experience.
Partner with hiring managers and recruiters at intake to define the ideal profile, separating must-haves from nice-to-haves and setting clear boundaries for the search.
Own pipeline health. Track response rates, conversion by stage, and sourcing channel effectiveness, and use the data to refine your approach.
Bring market insights (talent supply, compensation signals, competitor activity) to hiring managers, and use them to adjust search criteria and strategy.
Take part in calibration sessions and help keep interview processes, assessment frameworks, and the candidate experience current.
Build and maintain a warm talent community for recurring hard-to-fill disciplines.
Work with People Ops to follow applicable employment laws, OFCCP requirements, and export control considerations in aerospace hiring.
Basic Qualifications
2+ years of technical sourcing or recruiting experience, with a track record of filling hard-to-fill, high-volume engineering roles.
Proven ability to source senior engineering talent in competitive markets.
Hands-on LinkedIn Recruiter experience, including advanced Boolean and search strategy.
Self-starter who works with urgency and manages multiple priorities independently.
Clear, proactive communicator with candidates and hiring managers who keeps stakeholders informed.
Enough technical fluency in hardware and/or software engineering to evaluate candidate depth and put role requirements in context.
Preferred Skills and Experience
In-house recruiting experience at a hardware or deep tech startup (Series A through growth stage).
Experience recruiting for hardware engineering roles.
Experience with Greenhouse ATS and Gem.
Exposure to ITAR/export-controlled hiring environments.
Active network in the LA aerospace corridor.
Familiarity with diversity sourcing strategies and tools.