Vast develops commercial space stations to support sustained human activity, research, and manufacturing in low-Earth orbit and beyond.
<div class="content-intro"><p>At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. Vast is developing next-generation space stations to ensure a continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and unlocking a new space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Using an incremental, hardware-rich and low-cost approach, Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world’s first commercial space station when it launches, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.</p></div><p>Vast is looking for a(n) <strong>Senior Engineer Life Support Systems, </strong>reporting to the<strong> Director of Life Support Systems, </strong>to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of human-rated space stations.</p> <p>This will be a <strong>full-time</strong>, <strong>exempt</strong> position located in our <strong>Long Beach </strong>location. </p> <p><strong>Responsibilities: </strong></p> <ul> <li>Own the design and development of the environmental and thermal control systems for our artificial-gravity space station, from initial design trades to fully functional and validated system.</li> <li>Iterate on manufacturing processes and development testing in a fast-paced environment.</li> <li>Own the project delivery timeline from early design through production, launch, and orbit insertion.</li> <li>Perform systems engineering tasks and fluid analyses.</li> <li>Lead design reviews internally and externally with suppliers and customers.</li> <li>Work with interdisciplinary stakeholders to ensure the component will integrate with the necessary avionics, software, and mission operations systems.</li> <li>Make sure that all designs are manufacturable and reliable.</li> <li>Bring technical excellence to everything you do.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Basic Qualifications:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Bachelor's degree in an engineering or science discipline.</li> <li>2+ years of experience working with fluid or environmental control systems or components.</li> <li>3+ years of hands-on hardware experience performing fabrication, assembly and/or testing.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Preferred Qualifications:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Master's degree in an engineering discipline.</li> <li>Proactive problem-solving skills such as failure analysis, root cause investigation, and design of experiment creation.</li> <li>Ability to perform trade studies using first principles and engineering fundamentals to make clear recommendations even with partial information.</li> <li>Experience with rotating machinery.</li> <li>Experience with soft goods.</li> <li>Experienced in NX.</li> <li>Solid understanding and application of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) and tolerance stack-up analysis.</li> <li>Experience with structural analysis methods (hand calcs, FEMAP, ANSYS) in order to optimize hardware to strength requirements as well as to evaluate for life and fracture.</li> <li>Knowledge of metallic and fluid system manufacturing techniques, processes, equipment, and other processes such as machining, welding, brazing, tube bending, etcetera.</li> <li>Able to work well in an integrated collaborative team environment, including frequent interactions with technicians, other engineers, and managers.</li> <li>Highly self-motivated with strong organizational and written/oral communication skills – able to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment with the ongoing drive for continuous improvement in all aspects of work.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Pay Range:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Engineer II, Life Support System: $112,300 - $159,460</li> <li>Senior Engineer, Life Support : $137,700 - $195,550 </li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$112,300</span><span class="divider">—</span><span>$195,550 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS<br></strong><br>Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand. Salary is just one component of our comprehensive compensation package. Full-time employees also receive company equity, as well as access to a full suite of compelling benefits and perks, including: medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, generous paid time off; up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff and up to 10+ days of vacation for non-exempt staff with the ability to cash-out unused vacation annually, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks. We also take pride in offering exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee & onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals remaining free of charge, and lunch subsidized as part of Vast’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality meals for employees.</p> <p style="line-height: 1;"><strong><br>U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS<br><br></strong>The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a “U.S. person” as defined by <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/section-120.62">22 C.F.R. § 120.62</a> or otherwise eligible for