Senior Mechanical Engineer, Lunar

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end lunar engineering projects such as solar and battery power stations, gas and fluids consumables pallets, airlocks, nodes, habitation modules, hatches, and docking systems.
• Lead trade studies on lunar designs, interfacing with power, thermal, avionics, life support, and industrial design teams
• Work with lunar subject matter experts and systems architects to bring lunar concepts to reality that mesh with Vast's larger lunar ecosystem and NASA's Moon Base architecture
• Develop and maintain CAD models (NX or equivalent), flowing design intent through to fabrication and release
• Drive fabrication, assembly, and integration of hardware, partnering with manufacturing and integration teams on design-for-manufacturing
• Lead hardware bring-up, checkout, and anomaly resolution
• Represent your systems at design reviews and program milestones

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of a B.S. in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials engineering, mathematics, physics, or related technical discipline
• 6+ years of experience in mechanical design for space applications, with direct ownership of hardware from design through test
• Hands-on CAD proficiency (NX or equivalent) with experience taking mechanical/electromechanical/fluids designs from concept through flight release
• Demonstrated experience owning a hardware subsystem end-to-end (design, build, integration, and test), not solely in an analysis or support capacity
• 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

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience working on lunar engineering programs.
• Experience designing or delivering deployable spacecraft structures (solar arrays, booms, masts, or similar mechanisms)
• Experience with battery system design, sizing, or qualification for space applications
• Familiarity with the lunar surface or deep-space thermal, radiation, and solar environment (or equivalent extreme-environment design experience)
• Experience leading hardware through formal verification campaigns (functional, environmental, vibration, thermal-vacuum)
• Prior experience in a fast-paced commercial space or startup hardware environment, comfortable with high ownership and limited process overhead

Additional Requirements

• Ability to travel up to 5% of the time to support vendors, partnership or customer meetings
• Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones

Pay Range

California $137,000—$230,000 USD

We calibrate level and compensation to the selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability. We welcome applicants across a range of experience levels to apply.

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: 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 asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending.