Mission Manager @ VAST | Simplify Jobs

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 August 2025. 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 Mission Manager, reporting to the SVP of Product & Business Development, 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 headquarters.

Responsibilities:

Manage all aspects of a given Vast’s programs ranging from launching human crew and pressurized payloads to low earth orbital destinations
Be personally responsible for end-to-end mission success.
Act as the face of Vast to our customers to ensure their requirements are met or exceeded and the mission ends in success.
Creates and maintains overall project schedules and budgets with a focus on meeting or exceeding customer milestones and deliverables.
Support multiple programs and competing priorities concurrently.
Lead technical projects from contract signature through mission completion.
Work with the customer to mitigate and resolve technical and programmatic issues that arise with a success oriented approach and passion for resolution.
Interface with internal engineering, management, and production teams to ensure on-time execution of the mission while meeting all customer requirements.
Collaborate with engineering and production groups to understand vehicle readiness and how changes impact requirements, vehicle risk, and launch dates.
Work closely with the Business Development team to support proposal generation and coordinate mission activities with overall business activities in an as-needed sales engineer role.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or science with 5+ years of industry experience.
Experience with technical project management.
Experience working hands-on with hardware or software technical projects.
Experience acting as the primary interface of a company and program to an external customer.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications:

Master’s degree in an engineering or science discipline.
Experience with U.S. Government customers, NASA preferred.
Experience with human spaceflight strongly preferred.
Professional experience working with technically competent customers within aerospace projects.
Working experience with leading U.S.-based launch suppliers
Excellent technical writing skills especially involving multi-party interface specifications.
Strong negotiation, conflict resolution, and leadership skills.
Highly detail-oriented and experienced working with cross-functional teams and external customers.
Ability to work in a fast-paced and demanding start-up atmosphere.
Ability to thrive as a ‘one-person team’.
Excellent communication skills to deal with the customer at the technical and management level as well as our internal engineering and production team.
Available to work extended hours and/or weekends as needed to support critical milestones or operations shifts as the program requires.
Willing to travel to launch sites, test sites, and customer locations throughout the United States and abroad as needed.
Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion.

Salary Range: California

$100,000—$170,000 USD

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: 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, flexible paid time off for exempt staff and up to 15 days of vacation for non-exempt staff, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, free catered meals and snacks and beverages, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, One Medical membership, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks.

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, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Compensation Overview

6 month growth

1 year growth

2 year growth