Build Reliability Engineer - Avionics

<div class="content-intro"><div style="font-family: 'Instrument Sans', 'Segoe UI', Trebuchet MS, Tahoma, sans-serif;"> <p style="line-height: 1.4;">Vast is developing next-generation <strong>space stations and space infrastructure</strong> using an incremental, hardware-rich, and low-cost approach. Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station 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. 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 in 2027, followed by additional Haven modules. Additionally, the company recently announced <strong>Vast Satellite</strong>, a high-power satellite product line leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo.</p> <p style="line-height: 1.4;">Headquartered in<strong> Long Beach, California</strong>, and with more than 1,000 employees and over a billion dollars in private capital, Vast has built the facilities required to manufacture and operate America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats and systems for the Moon and Mars, dedicated space stations for government partners, and other crewed systems that will unlock the expanding long-term space economy.</p> </div></div><p>Vast is looking for a <strong>Build Reliability Engineer (Avionics),</strong> reporting to the <strong>Principal Build Reliability Engineer</strong>, to support the reliability of flight avionics hardware across the product lifecycle for our human-rated space stations. In this role, you will work at the intersection of design, manufacturing, integration, and test to ensure that our space systems meet the highest standards of safety, quality, and performance.</p> <p>This will be a <strong>full-time</strong>, <strong>exempt</strong> position at our <strong>Long Beach</strong> location.</p> <h3><strong>Responsibilities</strong></h3> <ul> <li>Own Build Reliability for avionics hardware and work centers, setting expectations for reliability, manufacturability, and build and flight readiness</li> <li>Partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Mission Assurance leadership to ensure robust, scalable quality and verification plans across the product lifecycle, with lessons consistently carried across programs</li> <li>Ensure successful introduction of flight hardware by defining readiness criteria, including process qualification, manufacturability, and inspectability, and driving the retirement of build risks through production ramp-up</li> <li>Drive maturation of internal avionics production processes, ensuring documentation, equipment, tooling, process controls, data collection, and training support consistent and streamlined execution</li> <li>Ensure off-nominal work is performed and documented reliably. Partner with Mission Assurance to drive risk mitigations and steer response plans to severe issues. Provide leadership and technical direction for high-visibility issues, establishing recovery plans and aligning operations, quality, and engineering on execution</li> <li>Collect and analyze build data to identify risk 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</li> <li>Lead containment and root-cause investigation of high-impact Avionics-related issues. Ensure implementation and verification of robust corrective actions that address root cause and systemic contributors across Vast</li> <li>Lead major cost of quality reduction initiatives through simplification of requirements, clearer design standards, streamlined inspection and process validation steps, and strengthened process controls</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Minimum Qualifications</strong></h3> <ul> <li>Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field</li> <li>2+ years of experience in manufacturing, design, quality, reliability, or related roles</li> <li>Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives</li> <li>Excellent communication and technical skills</li> </ul> <h3><strong>Preferred Skills & Experience</strong></h3> <ul> <li>Masters Degree or higher</li> <li>Experience working in aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability manufacturing environments</li> <li>Direct experience working on any of the following products/processes:</li> <ul> <li>Harness Manufacturing</li> <li>Avionics/Electromech Manufacturing</li> <li>Functional testing, pressure testing, environmental testing</li> </ul> <li>Proven track record of taking ownership in projects, performing root-cause analysis and corrective actions, and influencing suppliers to drive results</li> <li>Demonstrated ability to learn new tools, processes, and technical concepts quickly</li> <li>Ability to thrive in a fast paced environment and collaborate effectively across a matrix of functions across the organization</li> <li>Detail-oriented mindset, great organizational and project-management skills</li> <li>Strong written and verbal communication skills, capable of interfacing with and conveying concepts to all levels of Vast</li> <li>Experi