Senior Structural & Mechanical Engineer

<div class="content-intro"><p>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.</p></div><p>Vast is seeking a <strong>Senior Structural & Mechanical Engineer</strong> to own payload mechanical integration and launch vehicle interfaces for a new constellation-ready spacecraft bus — a product line designed to scale to hundreds of spacecraft per year.</p>
<p>This will be a full-time, <strong>exempt </strong>position located in our<strong> Long Beach </strong>location. </p>
<p><strong>About the role:</strong></p>
<p>This is a new spacecraft bus designed from the start for multi-satellite launches and production scaling. The structural challenges are real — a multi-satellite dispenser architecture, a separation system, a primary structure that needs to work across multiple payload configurations, and payload mechanical integration for every customer variant. The dispenser is a key architecture trade: we may design our own or the launch vehicle provider may supply one. Either path has major implications for the launch campaign. You'll drive that decision and own the outcome.</p>
<p>You'll work alongside a principal mechanical engineer and collaborate across disciplines — including contributing mass properties and structural margins to the program's spacecraft design and simulation toolchain.</p>
<p><strong>Responsibilities: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Work with the principal mechanical engineer to divide responsibilities across structure, mechanisms, and integration as the program scales</li>
<li>Design the primary structure for the satellite bus — sized for the launch vehicle fairing envelope</li>
<li>Resolve the dispenser trade — build our own vs launch vehicle provider supplies. Either path has major implications for the launch campaign: designing and qualifying our own dispenser, or owning the integration requirements and ensuring LV-supplied hardware meets our needs.</li>
<li>Own payload mechanical integration — mounting interfaces, structural accommodation, and mechanical ICDs for every customer payload variant</li>
<li>Own the separation system — define the approach, design or select the mechanism, and qualify it</li>
<li>Own mass properties — mass budget, center of gravity, moments of inertia across all satellite and payload configurations</li>
<li>Perform structural analysis — FEA, static loads, random vibration, shock response spectrum per launch vehicle environmental requirements</li>
<li>Plan mechanical integration — how do 10 satellites stack on the dispenser?</li>
<li>Ensure launch vehicle Payload User Guide (PUG) compliance for all structural interfaces</li>
<li>Coordinate with the solar array team on mechanical integration (boom attachment, deployment clearances)</li>
<li>Contribute mass properties and structural margins to the spacecraft design and simulation toolchain</li>
<li>Design for manufacturing — the structure must be producible at rate as the program scales to hundreds of spacecraft per year</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Minimum Qualifications:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline</li>
<li>5+ years of spacecraft structural design and analysis experience — primary structure, load paths, FEA</li>
<li>Payload mechanical integration experience — mounting interfaces, ICDs, structural accommodation for multiple payload types</li>
<li>Experience with launch vehicle mechanical interfaces — payload adapters, separation systems, dispensers</li>
<li>Mass properties management for flight programs</li>
<li>Familiar with launch vehicle environmental requirements (random vibe, shock, static load, acoustic)</li>
<li>FEA tool proficiency (NASTRAN, Abaqus, ANSYS, or equivalent)</li>
<li>CAD proficiency — you'll be doing detailed design, not just analysis</li>
<li>Comfortable making architecture-level structural decisions early in the program with incomplete data</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Preferred Skills & Experience:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Able to obtain a security clearance</li>
<li>Medium-lift launch vehicle payload integration experience</li>
<li>Multi-satellite dispenser design or integration experience</li>
<li>Experience with deployable structures (solar arrays, antennas)</li>
<li>Composite structure design and manufacturing experience</li>
<li>Experience scaling a structural design across multiple flight units</li>
<li>Design-for-manufacturing experience — optimizing structures for producibility at rate</li>
</ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$159,900</span><span class="divider">—</span><span>$226,980 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS<br></strong><br>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.</p>
<p style="line-height: 1;"><strong><br>U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS<br><br></strong>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 <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/section-120.62">22 C.F.R. § 120.62</a> 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.<br><br></p>
<p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>EQUAL OPPORTUNITY</strong><br><br>Vast is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vast is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.</p></div>