Senior Welder Long Beach, California, United States

Vast Space LLC; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 55,104 - 78,523; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% medical, dental, and vision coverage

Generous paid time off

Free meals and snacks

Job summary

Vast Space LLC is seeking a Senior Welder in Long Beach to support the development of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations. This full-time position entails responsibilities such as welding the Haven Structure, fabricating tooling, and operating robotic welding equipment. Ideal candidates will have over 5 years of Class A TIG welding experience and an ability to read engineering blueprints. Competitive benefits include 100% medical coverage, paid time off, and healthy meal options.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience with Class A TIG welding.
• Experience reading engineering blueprints.
• Self-starter, highly motivated working in a fast-paced department.

Responsibilities

• Weld the Haven Structure for human spaceflight.
• Operate mechanized and robotic welding equipment.
• Inspect fabricated parts for geometry acceptance and weld conformance.

Skills

Class A TIG welding

Fabrication and forming

Reading engineering blueprints

Automated/robotic welding experience

NDT techniques

Job description

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.

Senior Welder reporting to the Shop Floor Supervisor to support the development of systems required for the design and build of artificial‑gravity human‑rated space stations.

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

2nd Shift Hours: 2:00 PM to 10:30 PM

Responsibilities

• Weld the Haven Structure for human spaceflight.
• Operate mechanized and robotic welding equipment.
• Fabricate and weld tooling to support Haven.
• Inspect fabricated parts for geometry acceptance and weld conformance.
• Fit, form parts, clean parts as required and set up welding equipment prior to welding.
• Perform Class A quality aluminum welds.
• Diagnose weld defects and suggest corrective actions, both in repair and process optimization.
• Work with Engineering to improve tools and solve problems.
• Material handling of raw goods and finished weldments.
• Operate a wide variety of metal fabrication equipment such as vertical bandsaw, sanding equipment, and set up jig tables efficiently.

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience with Class A TIG welding.
• 5+ years of experience with fabrication and forming.
• Experience reading engineering blueprints.
• Ability to follow written and verbal instruction.
• Familiarity working with X‑ray technicians and other NDT techniques.
• Automated/robotic welding experience preferred (VPPAW).
• Self‑starter, highly motivated working in a fast‑paced department.
• 5+ years with Class A aerospace welding.

Additional Requirements

• Ability to travel up to 10% of the time.
• Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones.
• Ability to lift up to 25 lbs unassisted.

Pay Range (California)

$40 – $57 USD per hour.

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 and access to a full suite of 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 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 provide 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 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, or any other legally protected status.