Senior Industrial Designer

At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. Vast is developing next‑generation space stations to ensure a 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.

We are looking for a Senior Industrial Designer
, reporting to the Senior Manager, Industrial Design
, to support the development of the systems 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.

• Design cutting‑edge space habitat exteriors
• Design human‑centered interior environments and interfaces for astronauts
• Perform end‑to‑end industrial design of hardware, from early concept through production
• Translate vehicle requirements, engineering constraints, and human factors into compelling physical products
• Develop and communicate design concepts using sketches, CAD models, renderings, and physical prototypes
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain teams
• Support CMF (color, material, finish) strategy for both interior and exterior vehicle design
• Rapidly prototype and iterate to prove design ideas
• Contribute to design standards, guidelines, and visual language for the company’s products
• Present design work to leadership and stakeholders, clearly articulating trade‑offs and rationale

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Engineering, or a related discipline
• 5+ years of industrial design experience
• Expertise with CAD tools such as NX, Solid Works, Rhino, or similar
• Expertise with visualization tools such as Key Shot, Blender
• Strong understanding of materials, manufacturing processes, and design for production
• Strong grasp of human factors and ergonomics
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills
• Experience building and testing full‑scale prototypes

• Experience designing hardware in aerospace, automotive, transportation, or other highly engineered product environments
• Experience designing both exterior vehicle forms and interior human‑centered environments
• Ability to translate complex technical and human factors requirements into clear design solutions
• Experience working closely with engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain teams through development and production
• Strong capability in concept generation, visualization, CAD development, and physical prototyping
• Experience contributing to design systems, product standards, or visual language across a hardware portfolio
• Comfort presenting design rationale, trade‑offs, and recommendations to leadership and cross‑functional stakeholders

• 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 25 lbs unassisted
• Specific certifications, as appropriate

Pay Range:
California $136,120—$193,200 USD

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, 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, generous paid time off, paid parental leave, disability and life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, Class Pass credits, personalized mental health care through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks.

• 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, asylees, and refugees with such status granted, not pending.

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.