About this Senior Data Engineer role at Vast
Vast is developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure using an incremental, hardware-rich, and low-cost approach. Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station 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. 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 in 2027, followed by additional Haven modules. Additionally, the company recently announced Vast Satellite, a high-power satellite product line leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo.
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 required to manufacture and operate America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats and systems for the Moon and Mars, dedicated space stations for government partners, and other crewed systems that will unlock the expanding long-term space economy.
Vast is looking for a Senior Data Engineer, reporting to the Senior Director of Information Systems, to support the development of the data infrastructure and AI-driven capabilities 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:
- Design, architect, and implement scalable enterprise data infrastructure including data lakes, warehouses, and real-time streaming platforms
- Build and maintain robust data pipelines that feed internal AI/ML tools and enable advanced analytics across all departments
- Own end-to-end data architecture from ingestion through transformation to consumption, ensuring data quality, reliability, and security
- Integrate data from complex engineering systems (PLM/Teamcenter), manufacturing systems (MES/MOM), ERP (NetSuite), IoT/sensor networks and other enterprise systems
- Create innovative data solutions that enable AI/ML capabilities for engineering analysis, manufacturing optimization, and supply chain intelligence
- Establish data governance frameworks, standards, and best practices across the organization
- Implement MLOps infrastructure to support model training, deployment, and monitoring
- Build real-time data pipelines from shop floor systems, test equipment, and operational technology (OT) environments
- Collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and business teams to understand data requirements and deliver BI/AI-ready datasets
- Lead and mentor a high-performing data engineering team, establishing technical standards and fostering a culture of extreme ownership
- Evaluate and implement cutting-edge data technologies including cloud-native services, vector databases, and modern data stack tools
- Optimize data pipelines for performance, cost-efficiency, and scalability
- Implement monitoring, alerting, observability, and disaster recovery capabilities for mission-critical data systems
- Provide technical leadership and strategic guidance on data architecture to executive leadership
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent work experience
- 4+ years of hands-on experience in data engineering, data architecture, or related fields
- 1+ years of experience in a technical leadership role leading data engineering teams or initiatives
- Proven track record of building enterprise-scale data infrastructure and production data pipelines
- Expert-level proficiency in SQL and Python
- Deep hands-on experience with cloud data platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and associated data services
- Strong experience with modern data processing frameworks (Apache Spark, Kafka, Airflow, or equivalent)
- Demonstrated experience with data warehousing technologies (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift, or similar)
- Experience supporting AI/ML initiatives with production-grade data pipelines and infrastructure
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- Experience in manufacturing, aerospace, defense, or hardware-intensive industries
- Background integrating data from PLM systems (Teamcenter, Windchill), ERP systems (NetSuite, SAP), and MES/manufacturing execution systems
- Hands-on experience with MLOps tools, feature stores, and machine learning data pipelines
- Knowledge of DevOps/DataOps practices including CI/CD, infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation), and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Experience with real-time streaming architectures and event-driven systems
- Familiarity with vector databases, knowledge graphs, and AI/LLM data architectures
- Understanding of dimensional modeling, data vault methodology, and modern data architecture patterns
- Contributions to open-source data engineering projects
- Experience with digital twin architectures or simulation data management
- Strong understanding of data security, compliance, and governance in regulated industries
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
- Proven ability to balance strategic vision with tactical execution in fast-paced startup environments
- Track record of extreme ownership—proactively identifying problems and driving solutions to completion
Additional Requirements:
- Ability to travel up to 10% of the time to other Vast facilities or vendor sites
- Willingness to work extended hours or weekends to support critical mission milestones and production launches
- Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State (export control requirement)
Pay Range:
- Senior Data Engineer: $143,000.00 - $203,000.00
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.
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.
