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.
Mission Manager, Crew
Vast is looking for a Mission Manager, Crew, reporting to the VP of Space Station Engineering, to support the technical and program management execution of Vast’s customers and programs involving human spaceflight.
This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.
Responsibilities:
- Manage entire crew mission including onboarding, training, launch, on-orbit experience to low earth orbital destinations, being personally responsible for end-to-end mission success (contract award through return and rehabilitation)
- Act as the technical subject matter expert for crewmember accommodations throughout a mission to Haven-1
- Draft and own Interface Control Documents (ICD) defining all interface requirements between the customer cargo and the Vast space station and operations
- Act as the primary point of contact for Vast customers to ensure mission requirements are met in a time- and cost-effective manner
- Create and maintain overall project schedules with a focus on meeting customer contractual milestones and deliverables
- Work with the customer to mitigate and resolve technical and programmatic issues as they arise
- Interface with internal mission operations, engineering, management, and production teams to ensure on-time execution of the mission while meeting all customer requirements
- Work closely with the Business Development team to provide pre-sales engineering support including supporting customer meeting, proposal writing, and contract negotiation efforts
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in an engineering, science, or other technical discipline
- 5+ years of experience with systems engineering, technical project management, or customer facing project management in the space or aerospace industry
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- Experience with human spaceflight missions, in particular directly with crew flown on missions to the International Space Station (ISS), free flyer missions, or suborbital missions (strongly preferred)
- Working knowledge of crew vehicle systems (e.g., SpaceX Dragon, Boeing Starliner) and ISS interface requirements
- Familiarity with writing and negotiating an Interface Control Document (ICD) with an external party
- Experience acting as the primary interface of a company and/or program to an external customer or stakeholder and able to interface with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Ability to articulate complex technical ideas clearly, concisely, and consistently in both written and verbal communications
- Highly detail-oriented and able to multitask in a dynamic environment with shifting priorities and changing requirements
Additional Requirements:
- Ability to travel up to 20% of the time
- Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones
Pay Range:
- Mission Manager: $115,000 - $163,000
- Senior Mission Manager: $140,000 - $200,000
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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