Senior Harness Design Engineer at Vast

<div class="content-intro"><p>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.</p></div><p>Vast is looking for a <strong>Senior Harness Design Engineer</strong>, reporting to the<strong> VP, Avionics</strong>,<strong> </strong>to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and manufacturing of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations. This will be a full-time, <strong>exempt</strong> position located in our <strong>Long Beach</strong> location.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Responsibilities:&nbsp;</strong></p> <ul> <li>Develop the electro-mechanical design of flight wire harnesses for the Haven space station.</li> <li>Develop the electro-mechanical design of development and test harnesses to support qualification testing efforts.</li> <li>Design and analyze complex electrical architectures and wire harness systems, including development of detailed wiring diagrams, connector layouts, and system integration documentation for multi-disciplinary spacecraft/vehicle electrical systems</li> <li>Evaluate and implement power distribution and data communication strategies, ensuring proper signal integrity across mixed power/data pathways and selecting appropriate communication protocols (CAN, Ethernet, RS-422, USB, etc.) for system requirements</li> <li>Develop system logic and control architectures, creating interface control documents (ICDs) and performing electrical analysis to ensure compatibility between subsystems, including power budgeting, load analysis, and signal routing optimization</li> <li>Meet with multidisciplinary stakeholders to gather harness design objectives and requirements.</li> <li>Develop harness design and routing solutions with a 3D NX CAD environment.</li> <li>Provide great flight wire harness and vehicle/system level documentation</li> <li>Perform analysis and physical testing of harnessing with respect to thermal, loads, vibration, and shock to ensure full qualification for flight.</li> <li>Document and communicate the design, analysis, and testing results thoroughly and clearly through the use of design reviews.</li> <li>Interface with harness production and integration teams to ensure final harness designs can be produced and installed on schedule in accordance with overall project goals.</li> <li>Perform R&amp;D investigations and trade studies to push wire harness design to new boundaries in terms of capabilities, mass savings, cost savings.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Minimum Qualifications:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or other engineering discipline</li> <li>5+ years of experience in design focused roles</li> <li>2+ years of experience with wire harness 3D design, wiring diagrams, and formboard creation.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Preferred Skills &amp; Experience:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Experience designing harnesses to IPC/WHMA-A-620, IPC/WHMA-A-620-S, and NASA-STD-8739.4.</li> <li>Strong team working skills with a proven ability to effectively interact and collaborate with other engineering disciplines and excellent attention to detail.</li> <li>2+ years of experience with Siemens NX and Teamcenter.</li> <li>Wire harness component selection and qualification experience.</li> <li>General wire harness analysis, testing, and qualification experience.</li> <li>2+ years of experience with harness design and manufacturing documentation.</li> <li>Capability to solve complex design problems within tight schedules and minimal supervision.</li> <li>Passion for advancing the commercial space industry and space exploration, with a strong desire to revolutionize wire harness design.</li> <li>Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding startup atmosphere.</li> <li>Excellent communication skills both written and verbal.</li> <li>Strong sense of personal accountability and drive to succeed.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Additional Requirements:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Ability to travel up to 10% of the time</li> <li>Willingness to work overtime, or weekends to support critical mission milestones</li> <li>Ability to lift up to 25 lbs unassisted</li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$137,760</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$195,552 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><div style="line-height: 1;"><strong>COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS</strong></div> <div style="line-height: 1;">&nbsp;</div> <div style="line-height: 1;"> <div> <div data-qa="message_pane"> <div> <div id="message-list"> <div id="message-list"> <div data-qa="slack_kit_scrollbar"> <div> <div data-qa="slack_kit_list"> <div id="message-list_1770163429.476589" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1770163429.476589"> <div data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false" data-msg-ts="1770163429.476589" data-msg-channel-id="D1T52LDR4"> <div data-qa-hover="true"> <div> <div> <div> <div data-qa="message_content"> <div> <div data-qa="message-text"> <div data-qa="block-kit-renderer"> <div> <div> <div>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 &amp; 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.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="message-list_bottomSpacer" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="bottomSpacer"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div style="line-height: 1;"> <p><strong>U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS</strong></p> 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 <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/section-120.62">22 C.F.R. § 120.62</a> 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.</div> <div style="line-height: 1;">&nbsp;</div> <p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>EQUAL OPPORTUNITY</strong></p> <div style="line-height: 1;">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.</div></div>