Executive Recruiter 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 an <strong>Executive Recruiter</strong>, reporting to the <strong>Director, Talent Acquisition</strong>, to lead hiring for highly specialized and executive-level talent critical to the development of next-generation, human-rated space stations. This role is not only about filling roles—it is about architecting and executing thoughtful, scalable recruiting strategies that enable the company to build world-class technical leadership across engineering, manufacturing, and corporate domains.</p> <p>The Executive Recruiter will be a strategic problem solver and have a shared sense of urgency in identifying and filling critical leadership and niche talent gaps for our growing company.&nbsp;</p> <p>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>Partner closely with leadership to define, shape, and execute talent strategies for critical leadership roles across engineering, manufacturing, and corporate functions.</li> <li>Design and implement structured, data-informed executive search strategies tailored to each role, including market mapping, target company development, and candidate engagement plans</li> <li>Build and continuously refine scalable processes, frameworks, and best practices for executive recruiting, ensuring consistency, quality, and efficiency across searches</li> <li>Own the end-to-end executive search lifecycle with a high degree of rigor and attention to detail, from role definition through close and onboarding</li> <li>Act as a strategic advisor to stakeholders, providing market insights, talent intelligence, and calibrated guidance to inform hiring decisions and organizational design</li> <li>Establish and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with senior leaders, embedding a “talent-first” mindset into business planning and execution</li> <li>Deliver a high-touch, detail-oriented candidate experience that reflects the complexity and importance of the roles being filled</li> <li>Collaborate with the broader Talent Acquisition team to elevate standards, share best practices, and drive continuous improvement across the function</li> </ul> <p><strong>Minimum Qualifications</strong></p> <ul> <li>Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience</li> <li>8+ years of overall executive recruiting experience, ideally both in-house and at an executive search firm. Aerospace experience is a strong plus.</li> <li>Proven ability to design and execute structured search strategies for complex, hard-to-fill roles in high-growth or technically sophisticated organizations</li> </ul> <p><strong>Preferred Qualifications</strong></p> <ul> <li>Deep expertise in full lifecycle executive search, including intake, role scoping, market mapping, sourcing strategy, candidate development, and close</li> <li>Strong track record of building and refining recruiting processes, frameworks, and systems that scale</li> <li>Experience operating in complex, matrixed organizations as well as fast-paced startup environments</li> <li>Ability to synthesize market data into actionable insights that influence hiring strategies and business decisions</li> <li>Highly detail-oriented and methodical, with a disciplined, process-driven approach to execution</li> <li>Strong ownership mindset with a focus on outcomes, accountability, and continuous improvement</li> <li>Exceptional ability to build trust, influence senior stakeholders, and operate as a strategic partner</li> </ul> <p><br><br></p><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$138,000</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$196,000 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>