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.
As a Vast Staff Mechanical Engineer, Tooling you will be responsible for designing tools that bring our Haven space station from CAD to in-tolerance reality. Successful candidates are self starters and expected to take ownership from concept through to implementation and first part production. Vast has opportunities for tooling and manufacturing engineers with experience in weld fixtures, sheet metal forming, weld inspection, integration tooling, structural testing, and transportation fixtures. This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach, CA location.
Responsibilities:
- Identify, propose, and lead tooling design and specifications while working with end customer engineering team and manufacturing technicians.
- Develop and document tooling requirements from various stakeholders such as vehicle design team, test team and integration team.
- Manage schedule on assigned projects including critical next steps, deadlines, and outcome.
- Manage vendor relationships and coordinate meetings to identify new technologies and how they can be applied to Vast’s cutting edge applications.
- Develop, test, and implement tool improvements to yield time savings or tolerance improvements.
- Coordinate tooling modifications related to part, production, or other changes.
- Work closely with engineering stakeholders and technicians to solve production-related issues.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical or manufacturing engineering or other engineering discipline.
- 5+ years of experience in aerospace or equivalent.
- 5+ years of experience in NX or other CAD package.
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- Analysis experience with ANSYS or similar platform.
- GD&T.
- Work orders and assembly instructions.
- Desire to work hands-on with technicians.
- Sheet metal fabrication.
- Compound curve sheet metal forming.
- Thin Stainless Steel welding and or aluminum.
- Design of pneumatic, electrical, or hydraulic motion systems.
- Critical lifting and break overs fixtures.
- Thin sheet weld design.
- Integration tooling design.
- Large structural components.
Additional Requirements:
- Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones
- Ability to lift up to 25lbs
Salary Range: California
$159,100—$205,800 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.
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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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