Senior Life Support Systems Engineer (ECLSS)

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.

As a Senior Life Support Systems Engineer at Vast, you will have the opportunity to utilize your knowledge, experience, and creativity to develop novel solutions at the cutting edge of space technology. Our team is developing the necessary hardware to maintain environmental and thermal control as well as support life onboard our artificial-gravity commercial space station. This is a challenging role, as it involves design, analysis, testing, and manufacturing of components that are absolutely critical to the safety of future astronauts and passengers.

This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location. 

Responsibilities: 

• Own the design and development of the environmental and thermal control systems for our artificial-gravity space station, from initial design trades to fully functional and validated system
• Iterate on manufacturing processes and development testing in a fast-paced environment
• Own the project delivery timeline from early design through production, launch, and orbit insertion
• Perform systems engineering tasks and fluid analyses
• Lead design reviews internally and externally with suppliers and customers
• Work with interdisciplinary stakeholders to ensure the component will integrate with the necessary avionics, software, and mission operations systems
• Make sure that all designs are manufacturable and reliable
• Bring technical excellence to everything you do

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering or science discipline
• 5+ years of experience working with fluid or environmental control systems or components
• 3+ years of hands-on hardware experience performing fabrication, assembly and/or testing

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in an engineering discipline
• Proactive problem-solving skills such as failure analysis, root cause investigation, and design of experiment creation
• Ability to perform trade studies using first principles and engineering fundamentals to make clear recommendations even with partial information
• Experience with rotating machinery
• Experience with soft goods
• Experienced in NX
• Solid understanding and application of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) and tolerance stack-up analysis
• Experience with structural analysis methods (hand calcs, FEMAP, ANSYS) in order to optimize hardware to strength requirements as well as to evaluate for life and fracture
• Knowledge of metallic and fluid system manufacturing techniques, processes, equipment, and other processes such as machining, welding, brazing, tube bending, etcetera
• Able to work well in an integrated collaborative team environment, including frequent interactions with technicians, other engineers, and managers
• Highly self-motivated with strong organizational and written/oral communication skills – able to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment with the ongoing drive for continuous improvement in all aspects of work

Pay Range: 

• Senior Engineer: $135,000-$170,000

Salary Range: California$135,000—$170,000 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 l