Spacecraft Operations Lead for Crewed Missions

Vast; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 242,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

401(k) plan

Equity

Job summary

Vast is hiring a Senior Manager, Spacecraft Operations in Long Beach, CA. You will lead a team of mission operations engineers through all mission phases, from design to deorbit, with a focus on safe, reliable operations and scalable processes.

You will collaborate with vehicle, payload, and software teams, set standards for operations, and ensure cross-disciplinary alignment for Haven-1 and Haven Station programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, or another engineering discipline, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years operating complex systems in spaceflight, aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability environments.
• Experience in human spaceflight mission operations, such as ISS flight control, commercial crew operations, or a comparable crewed program.
• Experience as a flight controller or console operator for a crewed or complex uncrewed vehicle.
• 3+ years of leadership experience, as a people manager, technical lead, or both, including mentoring and developing engineers.
• Experience working across engineering disciplines to resolve operational issues.
• Experience briefing senior leadership and customers on complex technical issues, including during anomalies, with clear and decisive recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Own operational readiness for multiple crewed and uncrewed missions, ensuring safe and successful outcomes across commissioning, routine operations, anomaly response, and deorbit.
• Turn customer and internal requirements into a robust Concept of Operations and detailed mission timelines balancing payload, vehicle, and program needs.
• Lead the Haven mission operations team: define roles, interfaces, operating rhythms, and enable fast decisions.
• Grow the mission operations team to support Haven-1 and Haven Station; mentor and coach engineers.
• Lead cross-disciplinary mission operations development, including flight rules, procedures, timelines, and go/no-go criteria.
• Identify improvements to mission operations software and systems and deliver scalable upgrades.
• Achieve and maintain console certification.
• Monitor on-orbit spacecraft performance, triage anomalies, and drive resolution.
• Support 24/7 console shifts for critical operations and anomalies.

Skills

Leadership

Mission operations

Flight operations

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Brief senior leaders

Education

Bachelor's degree in aerospace/mechanical engineering

Tools

Mission Operations software

Automation tooling

Job description

Vast is hiring a Senior Manager, Spacecraft Operations in Long Beach, CA. You will lead a team of mission operations engineers through all mission phases, from design to deorbit, with a focus on safe, reliable operations and scalable processes.

You will collaborate with vehicle, payload, and software teams, set standards for operations, and ensure cross-disciplinary alignment for Haven-1 and Haven Station programs.