Senior Software Engineer, Security

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 Senior Software Engineer, Security, reporting to the Senior Manager, Software Engineering, 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: 

• Work with team to design, implement, and maintain a wide variety of backends, tools, and pipelines directly in support of Vast’s mission-critical security services.
• Partner with various engineering teams to assist in the implementation and design of their security-sensitive features and services.
• Influence and adopt practices and patterns for security and software that will scale to what will eventually become a very large codebase and team.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, math, or other engineering discipline.
• 6+ years experience with building security services and configurations (i.e. IAM, short-lived certificates, API security).
• Deep security knowledge in one or more domains (i.e. cryptography, network security, infrastructure security).
• Development experience in any modern programming language (including but not limited to Python, C++, Rust, Go).
• Experience building, shipping, and supporting security applications in the cloud.
• Proficiency using the command line, writing shell scripts, and an understanding of the GNU/Linux operating system.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience working on ambiguous problems.
• Production DevOps experience (Docker and K8s preferred).
• Experience working with multiple programming languages.
• Experience with API Design.
• Deep security knowledge in one or more domains.
• Confident communicator, both written and verbal.
• Collaborative mindset.
• Problem solver with a bias for action.

Pay Range: 

• Senior Security Software Engineer - $155,000 - $196,000

Pay Range: California$155,000—$196,000 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, 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 or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. This status includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylee