Senior Lighting Engineer @ VAST

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 Senior Lighting Engineer, reporting to the Principal Human Systems Engineer, to support the development of the lighting 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:

Responsible for the planning, design, and implementation of lighting systems for crew-habitable space stations
Select lighting components with appropriate levels of reliability, color temperature, flicker, diffusion, and other metrics
Partner with hardware and manufacturing engineers and technicians to develop customized, space-rated solution
Ensure lighting systems adhere to all applicable requirements and standards
Develop lighting control designs to meet design and network architecture specifications
Produce lighting layouts and analyses to ensure adequate lighting in both nominal and emergency scenarios
Routinely work with associated teams in other disciplines to ensure robust system and component design and selection, including avionics, power, structural, thermal, materials, and medical

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering or other engineering discipline
3+ years of experience in light/illumination design

Preferred Skills & Experience:

Ability to work effectively in a team environment
Experience with audio and acoustic design
Ability to make independent judgments with limited information
Communication skills for relaying data (verbally and in-writing) between other employees, vendors, and customers
Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment balancing several projects at any given time, and the flexibility to adjust for abrupt changes in strategic direction
Experience with lighting systems on aircraft, watercraft, or spacecraft
Experience with on-camera set lighting design

Salary Range: California

$140,000—$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