Principal Mission Assurance Engineer

Vast • Long Beach, CA

6h • Onsite

About The Position

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 Principal 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.

Requirements

• Minimum of a B.S. in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials engineering, mathematics, physics, or related technical discipline.
• 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.
• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time.
• Willingness to work overtime, or weekends to support critical mission milestones.
• Ability to lift up to 25lbs unassisted.
• Specific certifications, as appropriate.

Nice To Haves

• 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.

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.

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal