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 <strong>Staff Thermal Engineer,</strong> reporting to the <strong>Senior Manager, Thermal Analysis</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>Develop thermal systems requirements </li> <li>Perform thermal analysis to develop and optimize thermal control designs and provide solutions to a wide range of difficult problems</li> <li>Coordinate and partner with other engineering disciplines</li> <li>Document thermal analyses and designs</li> <li>Review and approve drawings for thermal design hardware content</li> <li>Report results of analyses and design specifics to internal management and external customers</li> <li>Work with test engineering to plan and execute subsystem level thermal tests, especially thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC) testing, as well as perform associated analyses</li> <li>Provide feedback regarding impacts of possible cost and/ or schedule changes</li> </ul> <p><strong>Minimum Qualifications:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or related Engineering discipline with a minimum of 10+ years of related professional work experience, or a Master's degree in a related engineering discipline and 5+ years of experience</li> <li>Knowledge and understanding of the application of technical principles, theories, and concepts for developing active thermal control systems</li> <li>Expert with thermal analysis tool: Thermal Desktop</li> <li>Extensive experience with TVAC testing</li> </ul> <p><strong>Preferred Skills & Experience:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Design, analysis and integration experience of spacecraft thermal systems</li> <li>Experience using other thermal analysis tools (FloCAD, Ansys Mechanical, SINDA/G, SINDA/FLUINT, TSS)</li> <li>Experience using fluid analysis tools like Ansys Fluent, FloEFD, StarCCM+</li> <li>Experience using aerospace standard design tools (NX, CATIA, CREO)</li> <li>Experience with space vehicle thermal design and/or integration</li> <li>Experience with active and passive thermal control systems and technologies (pumped fluid loops, heat pipes, etc.))</li> <li>Spacecraft and/or Payload background with experience through the entire system lifecycle from concept, design, production, integration, test, launch, to operation support</li> <li>Ability to develop novel concepts for active thermal control systems for space habitats</li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$175,480</span><span class="divider">—</span><span>$249,096 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 deemed export licensing. This status includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending.<br><br></p> <p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>EQUAL OPPORTUNITY</strong><br><br>Vast is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vast is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexua