Staff Build Reliability 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><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Vast is looking for a <strong>Senior/Staff Build Reliability Engineer</strong>, reporting to the<strong> Director of Build &amp; Supplier Reliability, </strong>to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">In this role, you will work at the intersection of design, manufacturing, integration, and test to ensure our space systems meet the highest standards of safety, quality, and performance.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">This will be a <strong>full-time</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>exempt</strong> position located in our <strong>Long Beach</strong>&nbsp;location.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong>Responsibilities:&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Own build reliability for major assemblies or multiple work centers</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Work with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Mission Assurance to define and maintain clear controls, inspections, and acceptance criteria for each product, ensuring lessons learned are captured and applied across programs</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Ensure successful introduction of flight hardware by identifying and mitigating design and process gaps, and retiring build risks through production ramp-up</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Drive maturation of internal production processes, ensuring documentation, equipment, tooling, process controls, data collection, and training support consistent and streamlined execution</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Collect and analyze build data to identify risks and recurring issues. Lead build quality reviews, generate data-driven recommendations, and effectively influence partner teams to prioritize efforts that prevent escapes and improve reliability</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Ensure off-nominal work is performed reliably and well-documented. Provide technical direction and lead risk mitigation and response plans for severe issues, establishing recovery plans and aligning operations, quality, and engineering on execution</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Lead containment and structured root-cause investigation of high-impact issues. Ensure implementation and verification of corrective actions that address root cause and systemic contributors across Vast</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Lead cost-of-quality and efficiency improvements through simplification of requirements, clearer design standards, strengthened process controls, and streamlined inspections</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Define, develop, and deploy tools and standards to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of reliability processes</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Mentor others to elevate reliability capabilities across the company</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>Minimum Qualifications</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">6-10 years of experience in quality, manufacturing, reliability, or design in aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability hardware environments</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills, with the ability to work collaboratively in fast-paced environments</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>Preferred Skills &amp; Experience</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Proven track record of driving systemic improvements and leading interdisciplinary projects</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Expertise in advanced reliability and quality methodologies (RCA, FMEA, SPC, control plans); Six Sigma Black Belt or equivalent experience preferred</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Familiarity with reliability engineering, quality systems, and standards (ISO 9001, AS9100, etc.)</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Strong technical depth in design, manufacturing, integration, and/or test</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>Additional Requirements</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Ability to travel up to 10%</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Ability to support mission-critical events outside normal working hours</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><strong>Pay Range:&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Senior Build Reliability Engineer: $137,800 - $195,000</span></li> <li style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Staff Build Reliability Engineer: $162,360- $230,472&nbsp;</span></li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$137,800</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$230,472 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><div style="line-height: 1;"><strong>COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS</strong></div> <div style="line-height: 1;">&nbsp;</div> <div style="line-height: 1;"> <div> <div data-qa="message_pane"> <div> <div id="message-list"> <div id="message-list"> <div data-qa="slack_kit_scrollbar"> <div> <div data-qa="slack_kit_list"> <div id="message-list_1770163429.476589" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1770163429.476589"> <div data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false" data-msg-ts="1770163429.476589" data-msg-channel-id="D1T52LDR4"> <div data-qa-hover="true"> <div> <div> <div> <div data-qa="message_content"> <div> <div data-qa="message-text"> <div data-qa="block-kit-renderer"> <div> <div> <div>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, 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 &amp; 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.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="message-list_bottomSpacer" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="bottomSpacer"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div style="line-height: 1;"> <p><strong>U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS</strong></p> 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.</div> <div style="line-height: 1;">&nbsp;</div> <p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>EQUAL OPPORTUNITY</strong></p> <div style="line-height: 1;">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.</div></div>