Senior Structures 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 Structures 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 Structures 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 ranging from the primary pressure hull and lunar surface habitat structures, secondary structures and closeouts and mechanisms, to micrometeoroid shielding.&nbsp; You will concept, design, build, and test engineered systems that require an understanding of mechanical design, structural safety factors, welding processes, 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.&nbsp;</p> <p>This will be a <strong>full-time, exempt</strong> position located in our <strong>Long Beach</strong> location.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Responsibilities:&nbsp;</strong></p> <ul> <li>Serve as the accountable owner (Responsible Engineer) for end-to-end lunar engineering projects such as habitation modules, airlocks, nodes, and pallets.</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.&nbsp;</li> <li>Own the design and CAD (NX or equivalent) development of primary and secondary structures for lunar ecosystem.</li> <li>Develop understanding of static and dynamic loads, vibrations, thermal, and other environmental considerations unique to the lunar surface to drive design decisions.</li> <li>Define structural requirements, design loads, and safety margins for a human-rated pressurized structure operating in the lunar environment.</li> <li>Perform mechanical design and analysis, develop manufacturing drawings, following hardware through the entire process from concept to build.</li> <li>Lead trades and own interfaces with subsystems, including pressure vessel architecture, hatch/seal mechanisms, and material selection for lunar exposure conditions.</li> <li>Work with fabricators and technicians to improve designs, develop processes, and resolve issues.</li> <li>Define and execute test and verification plans, including structural, pressure, and hatch/seal performance testing.</li> <li>Support hardware bring-up, checkout, and anomaly resolution during build and test.</li> <li>Represent the subsystem at design reviews, coordinating with Life Support (ECLSS), Thermal, Power, and Avionics teams&nbsp; on interface requirements.</li> <li>Help establish design standards and practices for the Lunar program as its first structures hire.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Minimum Qualifications:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering, Physics, Mathematics&nbsp; or a related field.</li> <li>5+ years of experience in structural design of aerospace pressurized or human-rated hardware, with direct ownership from design through hardware delivery.</li> <li>5+ years of experience with CAD and FEA software packages (NX or equivalent) and experience with GD&amp;T implementation and analysis (ASME Y14.5).</li> <li>Demonstrated experience owning a structural hardware item end-to-end (design, build, and test), not solely in an analysis capacity.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Preferred Skills &amp; Experience:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Experience working on lunar engineering programs.</li> <li>Design of structures and components for a high-performance vehicle or spacecraft.</li> <li>Experience designing pressure vessels, hatches, or airlock mechanisms for crewed spacecraft or habitats.</li> <li>Familiarity with spacecraft structural specifications such as SMC-S-016 and NASA-STD-5001.</li> <li>Analysis work in recent versions of Ansys, Femap/Nastran, or Abaqus.</li> <li>Experience leading hardware through structural verification testing (proof pressure, burst, functional seal/hatch cycling).</li> <li>Familiarity with the lunar surface or deep-space thermal, radiation, and solar environment (or equivalent extreme-environment design experience).</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>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Additional Requirements:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Ability to travel up to 5