Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, Electronics Packaging

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 Mechanical Design Engineer, Electronics Packaging, reporting to the Manager of Mechanical Engineering, Avionics, to support the development of the Avionics, RF, Power, and GNC systems 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, CA location. 

Responsibilities: 

• Function in a cross disciplinary team and a dynamic design environment.
• Support electronics development and trade studies, and create interface definition, specification, and control documents.
• Validate requirements through design, test, analysis, or inspection.
• Plan and conduct tests, review and interpret data.
• Create assembly and/or installation drawings and support hardware builds. 
• Design avionics enclosure and mounting solutions for high reliability in harsh environments.
• Participate in the entire design cycle of flight and mission critical avionics.
• Work with the electrical engineering team to design rugged printed circuit board systems.
• Complete thermal and structural analyses of these designs.
• Create engineering drawings and manage the product configuration of the integrated designs through the product lifecycle.
• Review test plans and manage testing and qualification of the product.
• Design and/or support integration brackets of avionics components into the space station.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors of science degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of experience with electronics packaging and/or critical electronic components in extreme environments.
• Working experience with 3D CAD programs.
• Experience with GD&T implementation and analysis (ASME Y14.5).

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Masters of science degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other engineering discipline.
• Working experience with NX preferred.
• Experience designing ruggedized electronics enclosures or similar high-performance hardware.
• Familiarity with environmental testing similar to SMC-S-016, and/or MIL-STD-810.
• Familiarity with circuit card design per IPC-A-610 and/or J standards.
• Familiarity with harness design per IPC-A-620 and/or NASA standards.
• Thermal and structural analysis experience using ANSYS or similar.
• Experience with electrical schematic reviews and electrical schematic capture software (Altium or similar).

Additional Requirements:

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

Pay Ranges: 

• Senior Mechanical Design Engineer III: $135,000 - $170,000
• Staff Mechanical Design Engineer IV: $160,000 - $200,000

Salary Range: California$135,000—$200,000 USDCOMPENSATION 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.

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