Propulsion Design Reliability Engineer Verified today

Vast is developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure using an incremental, hardware-rich, and low-cost approach. Haven-1 is expected to become the world's first commercial space station when it launches in 2027.

As Propulsion Design Reliability Engineer, reporting to the Director of Design Reliability, you will ensure the propulsion system on Haven-1 is appropriately designed and functions reliably, without failure, over its intended lifespan by integrating reliability principles directly into the design process. You will drive Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), guide test plan definition, review verification and validation data, and facilitate design teams to prevent failures before manufacturing. You will work closely with hardware teams to ensure build practices meet design intent, define test methodologies, and analyze field data to improve design robustness. You will shepherd the Haven-1 propulsion system through detailed design and transition the space station from design to a built and tested station ready to host humans in space.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership: Guide design of the propulsion systems for a large scale space station. Cultivate understanding of static and dynamic loads, vibrations, thermal, combustion and other propulsion considerations to drive design decisions. Lead technical reviews providing clear, decisive guidance of mechanical design and analysis, manufacturing drawings, test plans, concept of operations during milestone design reviews and major risk gates. Provide critical peer review and approval of hardware designs during design reviews and of acceptance and qualification test campaigns. Ensure that Vast's design process and design criteria/requirements are being followed for flight, launch, and ground support systems. Set the standard for acceptance and qualification test completeness for flight systems, ensuring test campaigns are robust, disciplined, and aligned with human-rated reliability.
• Design Excellence: Architect Vast's propulsion engineering standards, design guides, and review frameworks. Develop design criteria, requirements, and verification approaches to support Haven-1 design architecture. Make engineering best practices accessible and actionable, especially for engineers moving rapidly under ambitious program timelines. Support and elevate engineering teams across the organization by bringing broad experience in design, build cycles, integration, and test. Capture lessons learned and strengthen future standards.
• Process Ownership: Build and steward the processes that ensure engineering rigor at scale. Own and continuously refine design review templates, reliability checklists, and internal design guides. Track design maturity and compliance across the station and vehicle architecture. Build tools, frameworks, and automation that empower engineers to explore design trade-offs and risks with clarity and speed.
• Change and Configuration Management: Partner with configuration and change management so that every update to flight hardware is intentional, reviewed, and fully understood. Drive technical trades for the vehicle and enable decisions backed by strong physics-based engineering rationale. Coordinate between Change Management, Risk, and Engineering teams to ensure design revisions drive continuous improvement on the vehicle. Partner with the internal software team to ensure system data, configuration details, and design decisions are well organized and accessible.
• Risk Management: Partner with the Risk management team to identify risk and drive design improvements with engineering to mitigate. Work with Risk Management and Engineering to quantify risk and failure probability through rigorous engineering rationale. Drive FMEA and Fault tree analysis across all engineering systems to identify and drive down risk. Drive best practices for traceability and verification and validation of design revisions to thoroughly document risk mitigations across flight, launch, and ground support systems.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or related Engineering discipline
• 6+ years of related professional work experience in responsible engineering, design ownership, systems integration, test engineering, or reliability-focused development

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 10+ years of related professional work experience in responsible engineering, design ownership, systems integration, test engineering, or reliability-focused development
• Experience in Responsible Engineering, Systems Engineering, Office of the Chief Engineer, or Reliability Engineering roles on complex aerospace systems
• Hands-on experience designing, assembling, integrating, or testing hardware
• Background with spacecraft, aircraft, launch vehicles, or other mission- or safety-critical systems
• Familiarity with fracture control, reliability methodologies, or human-rated hardware standards
• Experience creating engineering standards, review templates, or technical guidance frameworks
• Strong scripting and data analysis skills (Python, MATLAB, Excel) and familiarity with visualization tools (e.g., Tableau)
• Knowledge of manufacturing processes, materials selection, and hardware qualification pathways
• Strong systems-level intuition and the ability to anticipate and articulate risks early

Additional Requirements

• Willingness to work overtime or weekends to support critical mission milestones

Employment Details

• Full-time, exempt position located in Long Beach, California
• Pay Range: $162,360 to $265,392 USD annually. Compensation calibrated to selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability.

Compensation and Benefits

Full-time employees receive company equity and access to medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents; generous paid time off with up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff with 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. Vast offers exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee, onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals free of charge, and lunch subsidized.

Export Control Compliance

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.