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Varda Salary

Varda Salary

Varda pays a median of $160K ($136K–$164K) across 81 public job postings (2025–2026).

💰 $136K–$164K salary range

Median: $160K  ·  Based on 81 public Varda job postings  ·  Updated October 8, 2026


This Varda salary benchmark is built from public job postings — no private placement data. Figures reflect base salary only (equity is separate) and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

Varda · pay benchmark · updated October 8, 2026
$160K
inc. eng · sales · ops
All-role median
$136K–$164K
Typical range
$251K view JD
Highest base · Director, Payloads Systems Integration and Test
81
Open roles
~5 yrs
Typical exp.
+56
59 last 90d
New last 30d
ⓘ Base salary only — 100% of roles mention equity · options
IC salary by seniority
Mid
$136K (27)
Senior
$160K (33)
Staff
$207K (5)
Salary by department · median & top base
autonomous systems
$193K · $244K top (11)
payload & mechanisms
$160K · $251K top (8)
spacecraft engineering
$160K · $232K top (23)
terrestrial hardware
$148K · $179K top (8)
build
$136K · $232K top (9)
Highest-paying skills
Matlab $160KFiber $160KPython $160KGrafana $160K

Highest-paying open roles at Varda

Varda salary by department

  • autonomous systems: $193K median · $244K top base — Principal Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer (view JD) (11 roles)
  • payload & mechanisms: $160K median · $251K top base — Director, Payloads Systems Integration and Test (view JD) (8 roles)
  • spacecraft engineering: $160K median · $232K top base — Principal Avionics Hardware Development Engineer (view JD) (23 roles)
  • terrestrial hardware: $148K median · $179K top base — Senior Terrestrial Automation and Controls Engineer (view JD) (8 roles)
  • build: $136K median · $232K top base — Principal Manufacturing Engineer- Payloads (view JD) (9 roles)

Varda engineering & product salary by seniority

  • Mid: $136K median · $198K top base — Manager Systems, Integration, and Test (view JD) (27)
  • Senior: $160K median · $216K top base — Senior Mission Software Engineer (view JD) (33)
  • Staff: $207K median · $244K top base — Principal Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer (view JD) (5)

Remote work at Varda

0% of Varda's disclosed-pay roles are remote-friendly.

What Varda looks for

Most-required skills across these postings: Python (40) · Rust (4) · Supply Chain (4) · Kubernetes (3) · JavaScript (3) · Team Leadership (2) · Docker (2) · CI/CD (2) · SQL (2) · ERP (2).

Benefits & perks at Varda

Commonly listed: dental (81) · 401k (81) · pto (81) · parental (81) · vision (76) · hsa-fsa (76) · medical (5) · unlimited-pto (5).

About Varda

Varda is Series D stage · 101–250 employees · founded 2021 · HQ El Segundo, California. This context shapes pay: later-stage, well-funded companies tend to anchor base salary higher.

Experience & background at Varda

Roles typically ask for around 5 years of experience (up to 10+ for the most senior). Most postings don't state a degree requirement; of the 67 that do, Bachelor's and Master's and PhD are most common.

Posted pay vs. total compensation

The figures on this page are the midpoint of each posting's advertised salary range (which, for commission roles, includes on-target earnings). Equity is a separate — and often large — component of total compensation, especially at high-growth and AI-native companies; 100% of these postings reference equity (options). Equity is not included in the medians above.

Varda total compensation signals

Beyond the posted-range midpoint, postings indicate: common structures: salaried, hourly. Bonus, commission, and equity vary by role and are not included in the base medians above.

Varda hiring activity

Varda has 81 open roles right now, and this benchmark draws on 81 public job postings with disclosed pay. 56 of these roles were first seen in the last 30 days (59 in the last 90). Mostly full-time, with 7 contract roles in the mix.

💼 Similar companies hiring

Compare Varda's pay with companies in the same space:

CompanyMedian payvs VardaStage
Greenpoint Technologies$107K↓ -33%—
SpaceX$143K↓ -11%Series D
Blue Origin$160K↑ +0%Venture-backed
Boeing$132K↓ -17%Public
K2 Space$160K↑ +0%Series D
True Anomaly$185K↑ +16%Series D

💸 Companies that pay more than Varda

Bolt Graphics · Muon Space · Astro Mechanica · Neros Technologies · JetZero

📚 Salary guides & rankings

Top-Paying Tech Companies for Engineers (2026) · Highest-Paying Cities for Software Engineers · Highest-Paying Engineering Roles

Browse all company salary pages →

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Common questions

What does Varda pay?
The median pay is $160K, with a typical range of $136K–$164K, based on 81 public job postings (2025–2026). Base only — equity is separate.

What is the highest-paying job at Varda?
One of the highest-paying open roles is Director, Payloads Systems Integration and Test, at $186K–$251K base.

Which team pays the most at Varda?
The autonomous systems team, at a $193K median.

Where does this data come from?
Public job postings on company career pages and public job boards — no private placement or client data.

Methodology

Posted-range midpoints (USD) aggregated from 81 public Varda job postings (2025–2026). Range = 25th–75th percentile; median = 50th percentile. Roles, departments, skills, and experience are parsed from the postings. Base salary only — equity excluded. Last refreshed October 8, 2026.

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