Lunar Environments Engineering Lead

Vast; City of Long Beach (NY); On-site; USD 175,000 - 286,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Paid time off (20+ days)

Parental leave

401(k)

ClassPass credits

Spring Health

Onsite meals and beverages

Job summary

Vast is seeking a Staff Lunar Environments Engineer to lead characterization of lunar hazards and translate findings into concrete design requirements for habitats, surface systems, mechanisms, and crew interfaces.

You will work with the Systems Architect and hardware engineers to ensure designs withstand lunar conditions, driving standards and verification practices while mentoring engineers on risk methodologies. This is a hands-on, first-principles role in Long Beach.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Planetary Science, Physics, Materials Science, or related field.
• 8+ years of space environments engineering experience or similar.
• Experience with lunar surface data and environmental hazards affecting hardware or crew systems.
• Ability to model environmental effects and translate into engineering requirements and standards.
• Deep expertise in at least one lunar system element (habitats, surface systems, mechanisms, crew interfaces).

Responsibilities

• Characterize lunar environmental hazards and derive design requirements.
• Embed risks into end-to-end lunar architecture with Systems Architect.
• Define environment-specific design standards and verification methods.
• Lead trade studies on environmental risk and program impact.
• Mentor engineers on environmental risk methodologies.

Skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Ownership of risk

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field

Tools

Radiation shielding analysis

MMOD risk tools

Thermal modeling

Job description

Vast is seeking a Staff Lunar Environments Engineer to lead characterization of lunar hazards and translate findings into concrete design requirements for habitats, surface systems, mechanisms, and crew interfaces.

You will work with the Systems Architect and hardware engineers to ensure designs withstand lunar conditions, driving standards and verification practices while mentoring engineers on risk methodologies. This is a hands-on, first-principles role in Long Beach.