Senior Avionics Systems Engineer

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 2026.

It is part of our stepping‑stone approach to continuous human presence in LEO. 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
Avionics Systems Engineer
, reporting to the Senior Manager, Avionics and Power Systems to support the development of 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.

• Function as responsible engineer for avionics systems across design, integration, test, launch, and operations.
• Define detailed systems design, including system interfaces, consumable budgets, harness and channel capabilities, hardware capabilities, reliability and fault tolerance compliance, vehicle risk assessments, and configuration change management.
• Collaborate with a cross‑functional engineering team to define requirements, perform systems trades, and scope designs as they move from concept to flight production.
• Architect and inform autonomous behaviors, vehicle modes, and fault responses to comply with vehicle redundancy and fault‑tolerance requirements.
• Develop system‑level test plans for integrated flight hardware to verify test coverage and vehicle flight readiness.
• Evaluate vehicle health and perform real‑time troubleshooting to drive root‑cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Create and maintain system designs, processes, and validation techniques to improve reliability and streamline production.
• Support process improvement by identifying recurring issues, implementing design feedback, and enabling higher system reliability.
• Travel to launch sites or test facilities as needed to support operational activities.
• Mentor and support fellow engineers, fostering strong technical development across the team.

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or other engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of professional or project experience with avionics design, analysis, system level integration, and/or unit level testing.
• Experience with systems engineering principles and processes as they relate to spacecraft development.
• Experience with lifecycle development as it relates to space systems, including requirement definition, identifying design solutions, integration, validation and verification, qualification, and operation.
• Ability to effectively communicate technical topics to a wide variety of audiences.
• Ability to creatively solve problems and weigh against multi‑disciplinary requirements while assessing risk and making design and development decisions with incomplete data.
• Self‑motivated with strong learning, multi‑tasking, organizational, communication and documentation skills.
• Strong sense of accountability and integrity with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work autonomously and thrive in a fast paced environment.

• Experience defining, managing, and verifying flight software interfaces.
• Experience with system design and test of subsystems like power, GNC, RF, and human interfaces.
• Experience with high‑reliability/fault‑tolerant electronics for aerospace or defense applications.
• Understanding of electrical schematics and electronics manufacturing to analyze and improve test coverage.
• Competence with electrical test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, network analyzers, power supplies, etc.)

• Ability to travel up to 10% travel to support launch campaigns.
• Comfortable balancing several projects at any given time with the flexibility to adjust for abrupt changes in strategic direction.
• Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to…