Senior Electronics & Avionics Engineer

vast

Long Beach, California, United States · Long Beach · United States

Posted Jun 4, 2026

Full-time
On-site
Satellite

Job description

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 seeking a Senior Electronics & Avionics Engineer to own avionics development for a new constellation-ready spacecraft bus — a product line designed to scale to hundreds of spacecraft per year.

This is a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.

About this role:

We're building a new satellite bus launching in Q4 2027. The avionics suite spans actuator controllers, power management electronics, high-speed payload interfaces, and sensor front-ends — a mix of in-house development, heritage reuse from other Vast programs, and COTS. You'll own every in-house development end-to-end: from make/buy/reuse decision through flight hardware delivery.

This is the most schedule-critical individual contributor role on the program. Multiple box developments run in parallel on tight timelines, and you're on the critical path for the entire satellite. As the product line scales from our first 10-satellite build to hundreds of spacecraft per year, you'll drive the transition from prototype to production — designing boards that can be built at rate, not just once.

Responsibilities:

Drive make, buy, or reuse decisions for all avionics boxes
Own all in-house box developments end-to-end: kickoff, Rev 1 schematic/layout, component procurement, PCBA fab, board bring-up, radiation test, environmental test, CDR, Rev A delta design, flight build, ATP/QTP
Manage PCBA critical path — schematic capture, layout, design reviews, component procurement, board fabrication, assembly, staking, conformal coating
Own board bring-up and functional checkouts
Coordinate with radiation test partners to qualify all components — proton and heavy ion testing
Define environmental test requirements for box-level qualification
Oversee harness design
Design for production — as the product line scales to hundreds of spacecraft per year, your board designs must be producible at rate
Interface with the Haven-1 avionics team to ensure cross-program collaboration and alignment across Vast’s product lines

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related technical discipline
8+ years of electronics or avionics design experience in aerospace or defense
3+ years owning hardware development programs end-to-end
Designed and delivered space-qualified avionics boxes through full lifecycle (prototype, env test, flight build, ATP)
Strong PCBA design skills — schematic, layout, component selection for IPC Class 3 space applications
Experience with radiation testing and rad-tolerant/rad-hard design approaches
Managed parallel hardware developments on tight timelines
Familiar with environmental qualification per SMC-S-016 or HALT/HASS, and parts derating per EEE-INST-002
Comfortable with fast design iteration — Rev 1 as a learning build, Rev A as flight
Experience with board bring-up, debug, and functional test development

Preferred Skills & Experience:

Able to obtain a security clearance
CMG, reaction wheel, or ADCS actuator electronics experience
Power electronics experience (bus controllers, battery charge controllers, power distribution)
EMI/EMC design and test experience per MIL-STD-461
IPC/J-STD workmanship standards knowledge
Experience scaling from prototype to multi-unit production (10+ flight units)

Pay Range: California

$137,760—$195,552 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: 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.