Vast is developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure using an incremental, hardware-rich, and capital-efficient approach. Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station to support a continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and supporting a growing space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to design, build, and operate its own spacecraft in orbit. Next, Haven-1 is targeted to become the world’s first commercial space station, with launch anticipated in 2027, followed by additional Haven modules. Additionally, the company recently announced two new offerings leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo: Vast Satellite, a high-power satellite product line; and Vast Lunar Systems, power, communications, and habitats for the Moon.

Headquartered in Long Beach, California, and with more than 1,000 employees and over a billion dollars in private capital, Vast has built the facilities capable of manufacturing America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats and systems for Mars, dedicated modules for government partners, and other crewed systems designed to unlock the expanding long-term space economy.

Vast is looking for a Propulsion Design Reliability Engineer, reporting to the Director of Design Reliability, to guide the design, verification, and validation of Haven-1, an the world's first commercial human-rated space station..

As a Propulsion Design Reliability Engineer, you will ensure the propulsion system on Haven-1 is appropriately designed and functions reliably, without failure, over their intended lifespan by integrating reliability principles directly into the design process. You will drive Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), guide test plan definition and review verification & validation data, and facilitate design teams to prevent failures before manufacturing. You will work closely with hardware teams to ensure build practices meet design intent, define test methodologies, and analyze field data to improve design robustness. You will be responsible for shepherding the Haven-1 propulsion system through detailed design and transitioning the space station from design, to a built and tested station ready to host humans in space.

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

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership: Guide design of the propulsion systems for a large scale space station.
Cultivate Vast's understanding of static and dynamic loads, vibrations, thermal, combustion and other propulsion considerations to drive design decisions.
Lead the technical reviews providing clear, decisive guidance of mechanical design and analysis, manufacturing drawings, test plans, concept of operations, during milestone design reviews and major risk gates.
Provide critical peer review and approval of hardware designs during design reviews, and of acceptance and qualification test campaigns
Ensure that the Vast's design process & design criteria/requirements are being followed for flight, launch, and ground support systems.
Set the standard for acceptance and qualification test completeness for flight systems, ensuring our test campaigns are robust, disciplined, and aligned with human-rated reliability.
Bring deep engineering intuition to test campaigns, identifying risks early and helping teams converge on safe, resilient solutions.
Design Excellence: Architect Vast’s propulsion engineering standards, design guides, and review frameworks; build tools that enable fast, confident decision-making at all levels across the company.
Develop design criteria, requirements, and verification approaches to support haven-1 design architecture
Make engineering best practices accessible and actionable, especially for engineers moving rapidly under ambitious program timelines.