Operations Engineer

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 seeking an Operations Engineer, reporting to the Manager, Operations Engineering, to design and optimize current and future manufacturing factories. In this role, you will apply your expertise to creatively design and bring to life the spaces that will build space stations and satellites. The scope of this team spans capacity planning, questioning requirements, first-principles thinking, process simplification, CAD modeling, dashboards and automated reporting, cross-functional leadership, creative problem solving, and ramping production rate.

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

Responsibilities:

• Design and own factory and production area layouts, maintaining up-to-date floor plans and work center configurations with clear visual indicators and linear flow as guiding principles

• Lead future-state factory design and capacity planning to meet rate production requirements as the program scales, partnering closely with stakeholders to ensure business objectives are met

• Partner with area owners to evaluate layout options and space trades, challenging footprint assumptions and right-sizing work centers through an iterative design process that evolves with the program

• Host regular process walks of production lines, questioning workflow to identify what can be deleted, simplified, or standardized, determining root causes of operational challenges, and driving those changes to completion

• Drive process standardization across products, assemblies, and work centers to reduce variability and capture best practices and lessons learned to build the operational foundation required for sustainable rate scaling

• Develop dashboards and automated reporting tools that turn production and operations data into clear, actionable insights on throughput, capacity, and delivery

• Define and track operational metrics that quantify the health of the production system, and use them to drive efficiency improvements

• Execute complex projects with urgency, minimizing time and cost to the business — get hands-on, lead by example, and get things done

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial, Manufacturing, Mechanical, or related engineering discipline

• 1+ years of professional or internship experience in a manufacturing environment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience as an industrial, operations, or manufacturing engineer in a fast-paced developmental or early production manufacturing environment, with exposure to ramping from development through rate production

• Demonstrated experience in factory layout design, capacity modeling, and process mapping

• Proficiency in CAD tools for layout and workspace design (e.g. SketchUp, AutoCAD, or equivalent)

• Experience building dashboards or automated reports from production or operations data using tools such as Grafana, Tableau, Excel, SQL, and Python

• Experience with production and capacity planning systems such as MRP, ERP, or MES

Pay Ranges:

• Industrial Engineer I: $84,460.00 - $119,892.00

• Industrial Engineer II: $96,760.00 - $137,352.00

• Senior Industrial Engineer: $104,960.00 - $148,992.00

Pay Range: California

$84,460—$148,992 USD

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 BENEFITSBase 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.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITYVast 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.