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 May 2026. 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.
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 May 2026. 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 Manager, Harness Engineering, reporting to the VP, Avionics. In this role, you will oversee the team responsible for mechanical design and qualification of cable harnesses for our space vehicle and support systems. The harnessing needs of a commercial space station are vast.
This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.
Responsibilities:
- Recruit and empower a high-performing team of engineers to develop flight harnesses within a 3D NX CAD environment, from initial requirements to vehicle installation.
- Implement and verify that the team follows the standards, processes, and tools for the harnessing discipline. Document and communicate design, analysis and testing results thoroughly and clearly via design reviews.
- Champion the cross functional partnership with all harness stakeholders across all engineering teams, materials and processes, supply chain, quality, and manufacturing.
- Capture harness requirements from technical system owners and translate them into design requirements for your team to implement and verify.
- Manage technical trade studies to meet stakeholder objectives as well as adhere to internal design standards and requirements.
- Identify and manage project level development milestones in the form of analyses, demonstrations, and tests to ensure program success.
- Interface with harness production and integration teams to ensure final harness designs can be released, produced, and installed on schedule in accordance with overall project goals
- Perform R&D investigations and trade studies to push wire harness design to new boundaries in terms of mass and cost savings
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Electrical engineering, or equivalent STEM degree.
- 5+ years of mechanical design, cable harness design, routing, and testing.
- Experience with CAD and harness design software such as Zuken E3 for harness drawings.
- Hands-on experience with wire harness 3D design, wire harness installation drawings and formboard creation, wiring diagrams, 3D modeling of complex top-level assemblies, and installing and troubleshooting harnessing for aerospace applications.
- 2+ years of experience in engineering leadership managing the design of technical projects.
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- Track record of deploying products with successful space flight heritage. Manned spaceflight experience is preferred.
- Experience designing harnesses to IPC/WHMA-A-620, IPC/WHMA-A-620-S, and NASA-STD-8739.4
- Developed processes for connector, wire, cable, fiber, overwrap, and shield component specification and selection for aerospace and defence applications.
- Owned wire harness analysis, testing, and qualification processes for a full spacecraft or subsystem. Performed analysis and physical testing of harnessing with respect to thermal, loads, vibration and shock to ensure full qualification for flight.
- Has hands-on experience with harness manufacturing and integration: fabricating harnesses, performing connector mates, routing harnesses, and performing electrical tests.
- Competence with electrical test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, network analyzers, power supplies, etc.)
- Track record of producing documentation to meet the rigorous needs of prime contractors and/or quality assurance standards.
- Advanced experience with Siemens NX and Teamcenter
- Experience with ERP software or manufacturing software such as Manufacturo
- Familiarity with modern approaches to harness manufacturing and software automation.
- Strong sense of accountability and integrity with excellent written and verbal communication skills. Must be able to manage and communicate with technical project managers and executive staff. Attention to detail in this role is critical.
Pay Range:
- Senior Manager, Harness Engineering: $165,000-$200,000
Salary Range: California
$170,000—$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 10 days of vacation for non-exempt staff, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, One Medical membership, 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, 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.
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.
Top Skills
What We Do
Vast is developing artificial gravity space stations to expand humanity across the solar system.
Vast’s mission is to enable large populations of humans to live and work in space, permanently.
Our solar system has the resources and room for humanity to thrive and expand without destroying Earth’s biosphere. Unlocking these resources requires in-space infrastructure and industry at an unprecedented scale.
We are building a world-class team to engineer the human experience in space.
Why Work With Us
We're developing artificial gravity space stations to expand humanity across the solar system in order to enable large populations to live and work in space. Not only is what we're working on groundbreaking, but the team prides itself on living by our values of respect, curiosity, action, and excellence making it a lot more fun to achieve our goal.
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