Senior Mechanical Engineer, Lunar

About the company

Vast develops commercial space stations to support sustained human activity, research, and manufacturing in low-Earth orbit and beyond.

About this role

<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 <strong>Senior Mechanical Engineer, Lunar</strong>, reporting to the <strong>Senior Vice President, Lunar Programs</strong><strong>, </strong>to support the development of the systems that will be required for Vast’s Lunar ecosystem. Our team is applying the technology, infrastructure, and knowledge built across our Haven Demo, Haven-1, Haven Station, and Vast Satellite programs to a new frontier: the Moon. Our Lunar program isn't starting from scratch, giving this founding team an extraordinary running start to help shape humanity's next era of lunar exploration from day one.</p> <p>As&nbsp; one of the earliest Mechanical Engineers on the Lunar team, you'll play an outsized part in developing Vast’s lunar ecosystem. In this role you will have the opportunity to cover a wide range of components and systems for the Moon.&nbsp; You will concept, design, build, and test engineered systems that require an understanding of mechanical design, power systems, fluid systems, mechanisms, and materials engineering.&nbsp; The ideal candidate will be a full-ownership responsible engineer with broad knowledge that can take a product from beginning to end.</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:&nbsp;</strong></p> <ul> <li>Own end-to-end lunar engineering projects such as solar and battery power stations, gas and fluids consumables pallets, airlocks, nodes, and habitation modules</li> <li>Lead trade studies on lunar designs, interfacing with power, thermal, avionics, life support, and industrial design teams</li> <li>Work with lunar subject matter experts and systems architects to bring lunar concepts to reality that mesh with Vast’s larger lunar ecosystem and NASA’s Moon Base architecture</li> <li>Develop and maintain CAD models (NX or equivalent), flowing design intent through to fabrication and release</li> <li>Drive fabrication, assembly, and integration of hardware, partnering with manufacturing and integration teams on design-for-manufacturing</li> <li>Lead hardware bring-up, checkout, and anomaly resolution</li> <li>Represent your systems at design reviews and program milestones</li> </ul> <p><strong>Minimum Qualifications:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Minimum of a B.S. in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials engineering, mathematics, physics, or related technical discipline</li> <li>6+ years of experience in mechanical&nbsp; design for space applications, with direct ownership of hardware from design through test</li> <li>Hands-on CAD proficiency (NX or equivalent) with experience taking mechanical/electromechanical/fluids designs from concept through flight release</li> <li>Demonstrated experience owning a hardware subsystem end-to-end (design, build, integration, and test), not solely in an analysis or support capacity</li> <li>Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, fluid schematics, and electrical circuit diagrams</li> <li>Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills, and ability to communicate technical information to non-technical partners</li> </ul> <p><strong>Preferred Skills &amp; Experience:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Experience working on lunar engineering programs.</li> <li>Experience designing or delivering deployable spacecraft structures (solar arrays, booms, masts, or similar mechanisms)</li> <li>Experience with battery system design, sizing, or qualification for space applications</li> <li>Familiarity with the lunar surface or deep-space thermal, radiation, and solar environment (or equivalent extreme-environment design experience)</li> <li>Experience leading hardware through formal verification campaigns (functional, environmental, vibration, thermal-vacuum)</li> <li>Prior experience in a fast-paced commercial space or startup hardware environment, comfortable with high ownership and limited process overhead</li> </ul> <p><strong>Additional Requirements:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Ability to travel up to 5% of the time to support vendors, partnership or customer meetings</li> <li>Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones</li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$137,000</span><span class="divider">—</span><span>$230,000 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