About This Role

As the Manager of Facilities and EHS, you will be responsible for managing Varda’s Facility, Varda’s impact on Environmental Health, and Varda’s Safety controls.

This position requires strong overall technical skills, excellent customer service, exceptionally communication, and great organizational management. The candidate should be a self-starter, self-motivator, and possess ingenuity to work in this novel environment.

You will manage a skilled team of folks with expertise in building and operating aerospace facilities, running propulsion and spacecraft tests safely and efficiently, operating biotechnology and materials laboratories, and running a technology start-up. You will be responsible, either directly or through your team, for an array of critical functions including overseeing critical facilities infrastructure, managing sophisticated spacecraft test facilities, and designing safety procedures for vehicle production.  You and your team will also be asked to provide a facilities strategy for the company with the help of the engineering teams, spacecraft operations teams, material science and biotechnology teams, and the vehicle production organization.

Candidates should have experience in building high-quality systems in support of business operations, spacecraft development, and administering complex environments.

Responsibilities

• Recruit, retain and empower a diverse team of operations to design and build next-generation production facility for the Varda corporation and Varda's spacecraft
• Scope projects including requirements capture and initial design trades to open-ended problems
•  End-to-end ownership of the Varda Facility including propulsion test stands, spacecraft clean rooms, pharmaceutical laboratories, and the safety protocols to operate each area
• Provide day to day support for engineering teams using the lab spaces and offices
• Manage the EHS, facilities, and hospitality teams to define business processes and identify areas of improvements/automation
• Partner with Propulsion, Pharmaceutical/Material Science, and Spacecraft Integration teams to develop facility hardware, and safety procedures to develop and test space mission hardware
• Work closely with Varda engineers to gather requirements, research, evaluate, design, plan, deploy, and support spacecraft hardware tests in a world-class environment
• Manage all site supplies, services, and amenities including the associated vendors and contractors
• Manage all facilities and environmental operating permits and performance of all related actions including any recording and reporting
• Proactively ensure all site operational support needs are met, including the hosting of large meetings and events
• Implement best practices and controls for environmental health at all Varda sites
• Prepare schedules and supporting documentation related to safety and environmental audit requirements, and interact with external auditors as required
• Handle special projects, taking full responsibility for the successful and timely completion of the project

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, Industrial Engineering, Biological Science, Safety Science, or Seven (7+) years of EHS and facilities experience
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Independently motivated with a demonstrated track record of delivering complex technical projects
• Experience in Digital EH&S applications (e.g.: Training, Compliance, Inspections)
• Experience with construction management
• Comfortable spending most of the time in the Laboratory environment
• U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S. to conform with U.S Government space technology export regulations under ITAR

Preferred Skills And Experience

• Masters' degree in environmental science, industrial engineer, or 10+ years of mechanical or construction experience
• Professional Engineer (PE) License
• Experience managing multiple vertical projects
• Knowledge of processes of jurisdictional permitting and/or environmental agencies
• Demonstrated experience building and growing lean teams in a fast-paced environment
•  Demonstrated strengths in organizational, attention-to-detail, follow-through, reasoning, critical
  thinking, and problem-solving skills
• 2+ years of experience leading teams

Additional Requirements

• Must be physically able to regularly lift 25 lbs. for duties such as delivering computers, unpacking and rack-mounting equipment, etc.

Pay Range

• Salary range: $120,000 - $160,000
• 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 long-term incentives in the form of stock options and/or long-term cash awards
• Offer compensation also includes the ability to purchase company stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan