VAST

Develops artificial gravity space stations

Senior Power Systems Engineer - Lunar

Power Systems EngineeringUpdated on Nov 10

Full-timeLong Beach, CA, USA

About the Job

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.
At least 6 years of experience developing power electronics.
Demonstrated ownership of at least one power electronics product from architecture through hardware bring-up and validation.
Preferred: Master's degree in Electrical Engineering with a power electronics emphasis.
Preferred: Experience designing electronics for the spaceflight environment and verifying workmanship and operability through environmental testing, including random vibration, shock, thermal testing, burn-in, and thermal vacuum testing.
Preferred: Experience with hardware intended for beyond low Earth orbit, lunar, planetary, or other high-radiation and extreme-thermal environments, including radiation-tolerant part selection, derating, and screening.
Preferred: Experience with human-rated or other high-consequence systems where fault tolerance and single-point-failure retirement drive the architecture.
Preferred: Professional experience with instrumentation and data acquisition.
Preferred: Experience with software programming in MATLAB, Python, C/C++, or similar languages.
Preferred: Experience with vehicle and instrumentation buses such as Ethernet, Controller Area Network, Serial Peripheral Interface, and Inter-Integrated Circuit, as well as RS-422 serial I/O.
Preferred: Experience with full-lifecycle product development, including transition to production and manufacturing support.
Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones.
Ability to travel up to 5% of the time to support customer meetings.

Responsibilities

Own power system architecture, electronics specification, simulation, schematic capture, printed circuit board design, mechanical packaging design, board-level bring-up and validation, environmental qualification, and integrated system-level validation end to end.
Define and own power architecture tradeoffs for lunar applications, including energy storage integration, solar array interfaces, eclipse and survival-mode power budgets, and fault-tolerant distribution topologies.
Design circuits for functions such as power conversion, load switching, hot-swapping, power conditioning, inrush control, and over-current fault detection, with margins appropriate to long-duration lunar surface and cislunar operation.
Lead radiation, thermal, and dust-mitigation design considerations for power hardware operating beyond low Earth orbit, coordinating part selection, derating, and screening.
Perform failure modes and effects analyses and drive system-level reliability design and validation plans, including single-point-failure retirement for human-rated applications.
Own qualification campaigns end to end, partnering with the test lab on random vibration, shock, thermal cycling, burn-in, thermal vacuum, and radiation testing.
Drive design reviews and present architecture, analysis, and test results to engineering leadership and cross-functional stakeholders at key program milestones.
Mentor junior engineers, review their designs, and help build power electronics design standards, component libraries, and processes that scale across company programs.

Desired Qualifications

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering with a power electronics emphasis.
Experience designing electronics for the spaceflight environment and verifying workmanship and operability through environmental testing, including random vibration, shock, thermal testing, burn-in, and thermal vacuum testing.
Experience with hardware intended for beyond low Earth orbit, lunar, planetary, or other high-radiation and extreme-thermal environments, including radiation-tolerant part selection, derating, and screening.
Experience with human-rated or other high-consequence systems where fault tolerance and single-point-failure retirement drive the architecture.
Professional experience with instrumentation and data acquisition.
Experience with software programming in MATLAB, Python, C/C++, or similar languages.
Experience with vehicle and instrumentation buses such as Ethernet, Controller Area Network, Serial Peripheral Interface, and Inter-Integrated Circuit, as well as RS-422 serial I/O.
Experience with full-lifecycle product development, including transition to production and manufacturing support.

Vast is developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure using an incremental, hardware-rich, and capital-efficient approach. Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station to support a continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and supporting a growing space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to design, build, and operate its own spacecraft in orbit. Next, Haven-1 is targeted to become the world’s first commercial space station, with launch anticipated in 2027, followed by additional Haven modules. Additionally, the company recently announced two new offerings leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo: Vast Satellite, a high-power satellite product line; and Vast Lunar Systems, power, communications, and habitats for the Moon.

Headquartered in Long Beach, California, and with more than 1,000 employees and over a billion dollars in private capital, Vast has built the facilities capable of manufacturing America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats and systems for Mars, dedicated modules for government partners, and other crewed systems designed to unlock the expanding long-term space economy.

Vast is looking for a Senior Power Systems Engineer, Lunar, reporting to the Senior Vice President, Lunar Programs, to support the development of the systems that will be required for Vast’s Lunar ecosystem. Our team is applying the technology, infrastructure, and knowledge built across our Haven Demo, Haven-1, Haven Station, and Vast Satellite programs to a new frontier: the Moon. Our Lunar program isn't starting from scratch, giving this founding team an extraordinary running start to help shape humanity's next era of lunar exploration from day one.

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

Responsibilities:

End-to-end ownership of power system architecture, electronics specification, simulation, schematic capture, PCB design, mechanical packaging design, board-level bring-up and validation, environmental qualification, and integrated system-level validation
Define and own power architecture tradeoffs for lunar applications - including energy storage integration, solar array interfaces, eclipse and survival-mode power budgets, and fault-tolerant distribution topologies
Design circuits to implement functions such as power conversion, load switching, hot-swapping, power conditioning, inrush control, over-current fault detection, and more, with margin appropriate to long-duration lunar surface and cislunar operation
Lead radiation, thermal, and dust-mitigation design considerations for power hardware operating beyond LEO, coordinating part selection, derating, and screening
Perform failure modes and effects analyses and drive reliability design and validation plans at the system level, including single-point-failure retirement for human-rated applications
Own qualification campaigns end-to-end, partnering with the test lab across random vibration, shock, thermal cycling, burn-in, TVAC, and radiation testing
Drive design reviews and present architecture, analysis, and test results to engineering leadership and cross-functional stakeholders at key program milestones
Mentor junior engineers, review their designs, and help build the power electronics design standards, component libraries, and processes that scale across Vast programs

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering
6+ years of experience developing power electronics
Demonstrated ownership of at least one power electronics product from architecture through hardware bring-up and validation

Preferred Skills & Experience:

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering with a power electronics emphasis
Experience designing electronics for the spaceflight environment, verifying workmanship and operability through environmental test (random vibration, shock, thermal, burn-in, and TVAC)
Experience with hardware intended for beyond-LEO, lunar, planetary, or other high-radiation and extreme-thermal environments, including radiation-tolerant part selection, derating, and screening
Experience with human-rated or other high-consequence systems where fault tolerance and single-point-failure retirement drive the architecture
Professional experience with instrumentation and data acquisition
Experience with software programming: MATLAB, Python, C/C++, etc
Experience with vehicle and instrumentation buses such as Ethernet, CAN, SPI, and I2C, as well as serial I/O (RS422)
Experience with full-lifecycle product development, including transition to production and manufacturing support

Additional Requirements:

Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones
Ability to travel up to 5% of the time to support customer meetings

Pay Range: California

$137,000—$230,000 USD

We calibrate level and compensation to the selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability. We welcome applicants across a range of experience levels to apply.

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: 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 of vacation 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 take pride in offering exceptional 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 providing high-quality meals for employees.

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.

Pay Range: California 137000 - 230000 USD

About the Company

VAST

Develops artificial gravity space stations

Vast Space builds artificial gravity space stations to enable long-term human life in space. Its approach uses large rotating habitats that generate centrifugal force to mimic Earth's gravity, helping astronauts stay healthy during extended missions. The company designs, tests, demonstrates, services, and manufactures space infrastructure and customizable habitat modules for government space agencies, private aerospace companies, and research institutions that operate in lunar, Martian, or deep-space missions. Unlike others, Vast Space focuses on end-to-end artificial gravity solutions and ongoing support, not just concepts, and targets contracts that provide sustainable space habitats for science, exploration, and colonization efforts. The overall goal is to expand humanity’s reach across the solar system by creating scalable, gravity-enabled habitats that enable safe, long-term presence in space while protecting Earth's ecosystem.

Company size: 501-1,000
Company stage: Series A
Total funding: $500M
Headquarters: Long Beach, CA
Founded: 2021

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