Job details

Senior Systems Engineer

At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. We are building artificial gravity space stations, allowing long-term stays in space without the adverse effects of zero-gravity. Our initial crewed space habitat will be Haven-1, scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station when it launches into low earth orbit in May 2026. 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 Senior Systems Engineer, reporting to the Staff Systems Engineer, to support the development of vehicle systems 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:

Negotiate between business and technical stakeholders to establish vehicle and system level requirements
Utilise and manage a requirements management system to track requirements and manage the technical product
Drive system level architecture trades to closure
Work with Mission Assurance and System teams to own the fault management strategy for the space station and subsystems
Work with system disciplines to quantify and manage system performance metrics and sensitivities to drive technical decisions
Identify program level verification milestones in the form of analyses, demonstrations, and tests to ensure program success
Support Technical Project Management to unblock technical teams, and drive progress
Lead RCCA’s and Design Reviews to improve design reliability and technical product

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or other comparable engineering discipline
Demonstrated ownership of a space system or product for 5+ years. Examples can include experience within avionics systems, mechanical systems, propulsion systems, software engineering, reliability, or test engineering

Preferred Skills & Experience:

Recognized as an exemplary systems engineer within an organization, with work products that have high level visibility to senior management
Sole systems engineer on a cross functional team developing a product with complexity in operations and design
Demonstrated experience improving or starting a culture of systems engineering in a project or program with little systems engineering overhead, heavily emphasizing verification and validation through analysis and test with a test-like-you-fly mentality
Systems engineering experience in aerospace on a manned space flight program.

Additional Requirements:

Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones

Pay Range:

Senior Systems Engineer: $140,000 - $170,000
Staff Systems Engineer: $160,000 - $200,000

Salary Range: California

$140,000—$200,000 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: 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, flexible paid time off for exempt staff and up to 10 days of vacation for non-exempt staff, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, One Medical membership, 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, 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 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.

Vast Glassdoor Company Review

4.5

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CEO of Vast

John Price

Approve of CEO

Average salary estimate

$155000 / YEARLY (est.)

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max

$140000K

$170000K

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