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. Using an incremental, hardware-rich and low-cost approach, Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world’s first commercial space station when it launches, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030. 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 Industrial Designer, reporting to the Senior Manager, Industrial Design, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.
In this role, you will help define how our vehicles look, feel, and function for the astronauts who live and work in them, translating technical requirements, engineering constraints, and human factors into compelling, production-ready hardware.
This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.
Responsibilities:
- 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
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Engineering, or a related discipline
- 5+ years of industrial design experience
- Expertise with CAD tools such as NX, SolidWorks, Rhino, or similar
- Expertise with visualization tools such as KeyShot, 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
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- 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
Additional Requirements
- 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
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, 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.
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.
