Staff Build Reliability Engineer

Vast is looking for a Senior/Staff Build Reliability Engineer, reporting to the Director of Build & Supplier Reliability, 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 work at the intersection of design, manufacturing, integration, and test to ensure our space systems meet the highest standards of safety, quality, and performance.

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

Responsibilities: 

• Own build reliability for major assemblies or multiple work centers
• Work with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Mission Assurance to define and maintain clear controls, inspections, and acceptance criteria for each product, ensuring lessons learned are captured and applied across programs
• Ensure successful introduction of flight hardware by identifying and mitigating design and process gaps, and retiring build risks through production ramp-up
• Drive maturation of internal production processes, ensuring documentation, equipment, tooling, process controls, data collection, and training support consistent and streamlined execution
• Collect and analyze build data to identify risks and recurring issues. Lead build quality reviews, generate data-driven recommendations, and effectively influence partner teams to prioritize efforts that prevent escapes and improve reliability
• Ensure off-nominal work is performed reliably and well-documented. Provide technical direction and lead risk mitigation and response plans for severe issues, establishing recovery plans and aligning operations, quality, and engineering on execution
• Lead containment and structured root-cause investigation of high-impact issues. Ensure implementation and verification of corrective actions that address root cause and systemic contributors across Vast
• Lead cost-of-quality and efficiency improvements through simplification of requirements, clearer design standards, strengthened process controls, and streamlined inspections
• Define, develop, and deploy tools and standards to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of reliability processes
• Mentor others to elevate reliability capabilities across the company

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline
• 6-10 years of experience in quality, manufacturing, reliability, or design in aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability hardware environments
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills, with the ability to work collaboratively in fast-paced environments

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Proven track record of driving systemic improvements and leading interdisciplinary projects
• Expertise in advanced reliability and quality methodologies (RCA, FMEA, SPC, control plans); Six Sigma Black Belt or equivalent experience preferred
• Familiarity with reliability engineering, quality systems, and standards (ISO 9001, AS9100, etc.)
• Strong technical depth in design, manufacturing, integration, and/or test

Additional Requirements

• Ability to travel up to 10%
• Ability to support mission-critical events outside normal working hours

Pay Range: 

• Senior Build Reliability Engineer: $137,800 - $195,000
• Staff Build Reliability Engineer: $162,360- $230,472