At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. We are building artificial gravity space stations, allowing long-term stays in space without the adverse effects of zero-gravity. Our initial crewed space habitat will be Haven-1, scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station when it launches into low earth orbit in May 2026. 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.
Vast is looking for a Principal Radiation Effects Engineer, reporting to the Director, RF Engineering, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations. This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.
Responsibilities:
- Coordinate and oversee proton beam and heavy ion tests in support of Vast avionics development.
- Guide the development of Radiation Effects and survivability requirements for Vast spacecraft.
- Guide the derivation and distribution of in space environmental requirements.
- Tailor industry standards such as EEE-INST-002 for Vast spacecraft and missions.
- Ensure the Radiation Effects team meets project deadlines and company objectives.
- Foster a strong interdisciplinary relationship with other teams that rely on the Radiation Effects team to be successful
- Exemplify a culture of excellence, extreme ownership, and safety. Enable engineers to take responsibility for the system level impact of their work.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering, physics, or related discipline
- 10+ years of experience working in Radiation Effects or similar role
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- Ms or PhD in electrical engineering, physics, or related discipline
- Experience with in space charging for spacecraft, plasma, and atomic oxygen
- Prior experience in an electronics, semiconductors, or electrical systems design role
- Experience with software development in Matlab, Python, etc
- Experience with computer architecture & design
- Experience developing infrastructure for radiation test (procedures, reporting, equipment, etc).
- Strong sense of accountability and integrity with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to teach people of a multitude of education and industry backgrounds about Radiation Effects.
Additional Requirements:
- Ability to travel up to 20% 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:
Staff Radiation Effects Engineer: $160,000 - $200,000
Principal Radiation Effects Engineer: $184,900 - $245,100
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
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What We Do
Vast is developing next-generation space stations to ensure 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 in 2026, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030.
With more than 1,000 employees at its Long Beach, California headquarters and over a billion dollars in private capital invested, Vast has built the facilities required to manufacture and operate America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats for the Moon and Mars, dedicated space stations for government partners, and other crewed systems that will unlock the expanding long-term space economy.
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