Mechanical Systems Engineer, Exterior Sensor Integration

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. Vast is looking for a Design Reliability Engineer, reporting to the Director of Design Reliability, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations. This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location. Responsibilities:  * Technical Leadership: Lead the technical reviews that shape the future of artificial-gravity space habitats—providing clear, decisive guidance during milestone design reviews and major risk gates. * Oversee qualification and test completeness for flight systems, ensuring our test campaigns are robust, disciplined, and aligned with human-rated reliability. * Bring deep engineering intuition to test campaigns, identifying risks early and helping teams converge on safe, resilient solutions. * Evaluate complex design and operational changes, safeguarding technical integrity as the system evolves. * Design Excellence: Serve as the architect and guardian of Vast’s engineering standards, design guides, and review frameworks—tools that enable fast, confident decision-making across the company. * Make engineering best practices accessible and actionable, especially for engineers moving rapidly under ambitious program timelines. * Support and elevate engineering teams across the organization by bringing broad experience in design, build cycles, integration, and test. * Turn organizational knowledge into lasting guidance by capturing lessons learned and strengthening future standards. * Process Ownership: Build and steward the processes that ensure engineering rigor at scale—ensuring designs meet standards, reviews are comprehensive, and changes are consistently implemented. * Own and continuously refine design review templates, reliability checklists, and internal design guides. * Track design maturity and compliance across the station and vehicle architecture, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks. * Build tools, frameworks, and automation that empower engineers to explore design trade-offs and risks with clarity and speed. * Cross-Functional Influence: Work across all facets of the engineering organization to improve reliability. * Partner with configuration and change management so that every update to flight hardware is intentional, reviewed, and fully understood. * Partner with the internal software team to ensure system data, configuration details, and design decisions are well organized and accessible. Minimum Qualifications: * Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field. * 7+ years of experience in responsible engineering, design ownership, systems integration, test engineering, or reliability-focused development. * Demonstrated experience conducting design reviews, qualification reviews, or major change assessments. * Strong communicator and collaborative leader with high emotional intelligence, diplomacy, and the ability to influence at all levels. * Resilient, curious, and committed to continuous learning in fast-paced or high-pressure environments. Preferred Skills & Experience: * Experience in Responsible Engineering, Systems Engineering, Office of the Chief Engineer, or Reliability Engineering roles on complex aerospace systems. * Hands-on experience designing, assembling, integrating, or testing hardware. * Background with spacecraft, aircraft, launch vehicles, or other mission- or safety-critical systems. * Familiarity with fracture control, reliability methodologies, or human-rated hardware standards. * Experience creating engineering standards, review templates, or technical guidance frameworks. * Strong scripting and data analysis skills (Python, MATLAB, Excel) and familiarity with visualization tools (e.g., Tableau). * Knowledge of manufacturing processes, materials selection, and hardware qualification pathways. * Strong systems-level intuition and the ability to anticipate and articulate risks early. Additional Requirements: * Willingness to work overtime, or weekends to support critical mission milestones. Pay Range: California $137,000—$195,000 USD COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS 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. U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS 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 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/section-120.62] 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. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY 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, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

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. Vast is looking for a Mission Assurance Engineer, reporting to the VP of Flight Safety & Mission Assurance, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location Responsibilities:  * Coordinate launch readiness, verifies system is ready for flight * Drive technical understanding and closure of identified risks * Assess and communicate risks to executive leadership and external stakeholders * Support technical reviews of software, hardware, and operations products * Verify testing, deliverables, and review activities are complete * Participate in critical space station operations, real-time anomaly investigations, and major root cause investigations. Drive corrective actions, author associated reports, and communicate lessons learned * Coordinate mission data review * Build a culture of safety and mission assurance Minimum Qualifications: * Minimum of a B.S. in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials engineering, mathematics, physics, or related technical discipline Preferred Skills & Experience: * Familiarity with system safety, reliability, risk management, certification, change management, systems engineering methodologies, hazard analysis * Experience throughout the engineering lifecycle (design, build, operations, sustainment, and decommission) * Technical leadership experience * Proven ability to lead through influence and exercise expert judgment * Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, fluid schematics, and electrical circuit diagrams * Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills, and ability to communicate technical information to non-technical partners * Ability to form relationships with experts from varying engineering fields and provide constructive feedback about safety and reliability concerns * Extreme focus on mission success Additional Requirements: * Ability to travel up to 20% of the time * Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones * Ability to lift up to 25 lbs unassisted Pay Range:  * Senior Mission Assurance Engineer: $159,900 - $226,980 * Staff Mission Assurance Engineer: $188,600 - $267,720 Pay Range: California $159,900—$267,720 USD COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS 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. U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS 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 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/section-120.62] 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. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY 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, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.