Mission Integration Engineer Satellite Long Beach, CA

Vast Space Llc.; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 112,000 - 159,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Equity

Generous PTO

Parental leave

Disability insurance

Life insurance

401(k) retirement plan

ClassPass credits

Spring Health mental healthcare

Onsite meals and snacks

Job summary

Vast Space Llc. is seeking a Mission Integration Engineer in Long Beach, CA, to lead end-to-end integration of customer payloads onto the Haven space station.

This role interfaces with customers and internal engineering teams across mechanical, electrical, thermal, software, and operations to ensure interfaces are defined and closed on schedule. The role requires a BS in engineering and a background in aerospace or space systems, with travel up to 50% and willingness to work overtime.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Experience in aerospace industry or space systems is preferred.
• Strong communication and teamwork skills.

Responsibilities

• Serve as primary technical liaison between customer and internal engineers across disciplines.
• Develop and maintain ICDs and requirements documents; decompose and verify requirements.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to resolve integration issues and drive closure.
• Own mission integration schedule and track milestones on both sides.
• Plan payload integration and test campaigns, including environmental testing support.
• Identify and disposition technical risks, waivers, and non-conformances.

Education

B.S. in Engineering

Job description

Vast is developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure using an incremental, hardware-rich, and low-cost approach. Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station 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. 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 in 2027, followed by additional Haven modules. Additionally, the company recently announced Vast Satellite, a high-power satellite product line leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo.

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 required to manufacture and operate America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats and systems for the Moon and Mars, dedicated space stations for government partners, and other crewed systems that will unlock the expanding long-term space economy.

Vast is looking for a Mission Integration Engineer to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of human-rated space stations.

The Mission Integration Engineer serves as the primary technical interface between the customer and internal engineering teams, responsible for the successful end-to-end integration of customer payloads onto the spacecraft. This role owns the mission from kickoff through launch and on-orbit commissioning, translating customer requirements into actionable engineering plans and ensuring all interfaces — mechanical, electrical, thermal, software, and operational — are defined, verified, and closed out on schedule.

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

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the customer's primary technical point of contact throughout the mission lifecycle, leading technical interchange meetings, working groups, and formal reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, MRR)
• Develop and maintain Interface Control Documents (ICDs) and requirements documents; manage requirement decomposition, allocation, and verification closure
• Coordinate cross-functional engineering teams (structures, power, avionics, thermal, software, GNC, operations) to resolve integration issues and drive trades to closure
• Own the mission integration schedule, tracking deliverables, milestones, and critical path items on both customer and internal sides
• Plan and oversee payload integration and test campaigns, including fit checks, functional testing, and environmental test support
• Manage technical risk: identify, document, and drive disposition of integration risks, non-conformances, and waivers
• Support launch vehicle integration activities and interface coordination (e.g., ICD compliance, coupled loads analysis inputs, range documentation)
• Ensure compliance with export control (ITAR/EAR) requirements in all customer data exchanges

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or other engineering discipline

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience with facilities within an aerospace industry
• Familiar with space planning procedures and operations
• Knowledge of computer applications and the ability to easily navigate through different computer software programs
• Ability to create and update request for proposals (RFPs), purchase orders (POs) and facilities work orders in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment
• Ability to make independent judgments with limited information
• Communication skills for relaying data (verbally and in-writing) between other employees, vendors, and customers
• Logical and strategic approach to solving problems
• Ability to read and understand basic floor plans
• Comfortable working in a high-stress environment balancing several projects at any given time, and the flexibility to adjust for abrupt changes in strategic direction.

Additional Requirements:

• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time
• Willingness to work overtime, or weekends to support critical mission milestones
• Ability to lift up to 25lbs unassisted
• Specific certifications, as appropriate

Pay Range: California

$112,340 - $159,468 USD

We calibrate level and compensation to the selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability. We welcome applicants across a range of experience levels to apply.

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:

• 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
• other discounts and perks
• We also take pride in offering exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee & 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

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.

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 be considered for deemed export licensing. To assist Vast in assessing its export compliance obligations in relation to your application, please identify which ITAR/EAR status applies to you:

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Vast’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.