Senior Industrial Designer

at Vast Space

Location

Long Beach, California, United States

Compensation

$136k–$193k USD

Type

full time

Posted

4 weeks ago

Market range · function + seniority

$160k—$200k—$238k

p25 · target · p75 · n=800

Posted $193k · in the market band

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Job description

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 Industrial Designer, reporting to the Senior Manager, Industrial Design, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.

In this role, you will help define how our vehicles look, feel, and function for the astronauts who live and work in them, translating technical requirements, engineering constraints, and human factors into compelling, production-ready hardware.

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

Responsibilities:

Design cutting-edge space habitat exteriors
Design human-centered interior environments and interfaces for astronauts
Perform end-to-end industrial design of hardware, from early concept through production
Translate vehicle requirements, engineering constraints, and human factors into compelling physical products
Develop and communicate design concepts using sketches, CAD models, renderings, and physical prototypes
Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain teams
Support CMF (color, material, finish) strategy for both interior and exterior vehicle design
Rapidly prototype and iterate to prove design ideas
Contribute to design standards, guidelines, and visual language for the company’s products
Present design work to leadership and stakeholders, clearly articulating trade-offs and rationale

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Engineering, or a related discipline
5+ years of industrial design experience
Expertise with CAD tools such as NX, SolidWorks, Rhino, or similar
Expertise with visualization tools such as KeyShot, Blender
Strong understanding of materials, manufacturing processes, and design for production
Strong grasp of human factors and ergonomics
Excellent communication and storytelling skills
Experience building and testing full-scale prototypes

Preferred Skills & Experience:

Experience designing hardware in aerospace, automotive, transportation, or other highly engineered product environments
Experience designing both exterior vehicle forms and interior human-centered environments
Ability to translate complex technical and human factors requirements into clear design solutions
Experience working closely with engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain teams through development and production
Strong capability in concept generation, visualization, CAD development, and physical prototyping
Experience contributing to design systems, product standards, or visual language across a hardware portfolio
Comfort presenting design rationale, trade-offs, and recommendations to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders

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 25 lbs unassisted
Specific certifications, as appropriate

Pay Range: California

$136,120—$193,200 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.