Staff Propulsion Systems Engineer

1 week ago


Long Beach, California, United States Vast Full time

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, a commercial space station scheduled to launch into low earth orbit in the near future.

Our team is committed to executing our mission safely and on time.

If you want to work with talented people furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.

Vast is looking for a Staff Propulsion Responsible Engineer to support the development of systems for artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.

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

Responsibilities:

  • Develop propulsion thrusters, fluid components, tanks/pressure vessels, and/or fluid systems specific to spacecraft serving space stations.
  • Own critical spacecraft propulsion hardware/systems, assuming profound responsibility for their hardware.
  • Interface with a world-class production team to ensure successful translation of designs into spacecraft.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, manufacturing engineering, materials engineering, mechanical engineering, or physics.
  • 7+ years of mechanical or fluids design, analysis, or build experience.
  • Direct propulsion development/design engineering experience required.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

  • Advanced degree in aerospace engineering, manufacturing engineering, materials engineering, mechanical engineering, or physics.
  • Strong understanding of spacecraft and/or launch vehicle propulsion systems and fluid components.
  • Experience in NX 8.5 or other CAD packages with a solid understanding and application of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).
  • Proficient in basic principles of compressible and incompressible flow, thermodynamics, thermochemistry, mechanics, materials, and electrical circuits.
  • Professional or project experience with FEMAP, ANSYS, or similar finite element analysis (FEA) software tools.

Additional Requirements:

  • Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones.
  • Up to 10% travel to Mojave as needed.

Salary Range:

California $160,000—$200,000 USD

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand.

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 15 days of vacation for non-exempt staff.
  • Short and long-term disability insurance.
  • Life insurance.
  • Free catered meals and snacks and beverages.
  • Access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
  • One Medical membership.
  • ClassPass credits.
  • Personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health.
  • Other discounts and perks.


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