Senior Mechanical Engineer, Avionics

Long Beach, California, United States

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 August 2025. 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 Senior Mechanical Engineer, Avionics, reporting to the Manager of Mechanical Engineering, Avionics, to support the development of the Avionics, RF, and Power 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, CA location. 

Responsibilities: 

  • Function in a cross disciplinary team and a dynamic design environment.
  • Support electronics development and trade studies, and create interface definition, specification, and control documents.
  • Validate requirements through design, test, analysis, or inspection.
  • Plan and conduct tests, review and interpret data.
  • Create assembly and/or installation drawings and support hardware builds. 
  • Design avionics enclosure and mounting solutions for high reliability in harsh environments.
  • Participate in the entire design cycle of flight and mission critical avionics.
  • Work with the electrical engineering team to design rugged printed circuit board systems.
  • Complete thermal and structural analyses of these designs.
  • Create engineering drawings and manage the product configuration of the integrated designs through the product lifecycle.
  • Review test plans and manage testing and qualification of the product.
  • Design and/or support integration brackets of avionics components into the space station.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Bachelors of science degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other engineering discipline.
  • 4+ years of experience with electronics packaging and/or critical electronic components in extreme environments.
  • Working experience with 3D CAD programs.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

  • Masters of science degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other engineering discipline.
  • Working experience with NX preferred.
  • Experience designing ruggedized electronics enclosures or similar high-performance hardware.
  • Experience with recent versions of NX, Teamcenter.
  • Familiarity with environmental testing similar to SMC-S-016, and/or MIL-STD-810.
  • Familiarity with circuit card design per IPC-A-610 and/or J standards.
  • Familiarity with harness design per IPC-A-620 and/or NASA standards.
  • Thermal and structural analysis experience using ANSYS or similar.
  • Experience with electrical schematic reviews and electrical schematic capture software (Altium or similar).
  • Experience with GD&T implementation and analysis (ASME Y14.5).

Additional Requirements:

  • Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones. 

Pay Ranges: 

  • L3: $135,000 - $170,000
  • L4: $160,000 - $200,000

Salary Range: California

$135,000 - $200,000 USD

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: 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, paid parental leave, 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, and other discounts and perks.

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.
 

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

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.

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To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

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