Senior Radiation Effects Engineer

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 Radiation Effects Engineer, reporting to the Senior Director, Avionics Hardware Development, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.

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

Responsibilities:

• Coordinate and oversee proton beam and heavy ion tests in support of Vast avionics development.

• Guide the development of Radiation Effects and survivability requirements for Vast spacecraft.

• Guide the derivation and distribution of in space environmental requirements.

• Tailor industry standards such as EEE-INST-002 and NASA 8739.11 for Vast spacecraft and missions.

• Ensure the Radiation Effects team meets project deadlines and company objectives.

• Foster a strong interdisciplinary relationship with other teams that rely on the Radiation Effects team to be successful.

• Exemplify a culture of excellence, extreme ownership, and safety. Enable engineers to take responsibility for the system level impact of their work.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering, physics, or related discipline.

• 5+ years of experience working in Radiation Effects or similar role.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Ms or PhD in electrical engineering, physics, or related discipline.

• Experience with radiation shielding analysis and tools such as FASTRAD.

• Experience with radiation environments modeling and dose analysis and tools such as SPENVIS, OMERE.

• Experience with in space charging for spacecraft, plasma, and atomic oxygen.

• Prior experience in an electronics, semiconductors, or electrical systems design role.

• Experience with software development in Matlab, Python, etc.

• Experience with computer architecture & design.

• Experience developing infrastructure for radiation test (procedures, reporting, equipment, etc).

• Strong sense of accountability and integrity with excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to teach people of a multitude of education and industry backgrounds about Radiation Effects.

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 25lbs unassisted.

Pay Range: California
$160,000—$185,000 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: 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.