Director, Satellite Engineering

Vast is seeking an experienced Director, Satellite Engineering to lead development of a new constellation-ready 15kW spacecraft bus — a product line designed to scale to hundreds of spacecraft per year. Our first mission is a 10-satellite demo launch with customers spanning communications constellations, on-orbit compute, and scientific observation. 

We're developing a new constellation-ready 15kW spacecraft bus — a product line designed to scale to hundreds of spacecraft per year. Our first mission is a 10-satellite demo launch in Q4 2027, with customers spanning communications constellations, on-orbit compute, and scientific observation. This is the engineering leadership role for that product line. You'll own the technical execution of the spacecraft bus — managing discipline leads across electronics, thermal, GNC, power, structures, and flight software, and delivering flight hardware on schedule.

This role carries Chief Engineer responsibility: you are the final technical authority on the satellite bus design. You'll make architecture decisions, run design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR), and own the engineering schedule. You'll manage a growing team of subsystem leads and coordinate with existing teams in solar arrays, electric propulsion, and avionics/software.

A core part of our strategy is building a mission factory — software infrastructure that dramatically reduces the time from customer contract to payload on orbit. We do this by empowering subject matter experts with AI code generation tools to build their own engineering software: custom simulation, analysis, test automation, and integration workflows, all backed by rigorous hand-calculation validation suites. This toolchain is already our primary engineering record and the foundation of how we scale. You'll champion this approach across the engineering organization.

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

Responsibilities: 

• Own technical authority for the satellite bus design — architecture decisions, make/buy, test philosophy
• Manage and grow the engineering team: electronics, thermal, GNC, power, structures, flight software, simulation
• Drive the engineering schedule — all avionics box development timelines hit their marks
• Run design review technical content (SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR)
• Define the test strategy for all components and vehicle-level work — set commercial standards for acceptance, protoqual, qualification, and qualification-by-similarity across this product line
• Coordinate with the solar array, electric propulsion, and Haven-1 avionics/software teams
• Drive make/buy decisions across all subsystems
• Manage engineering headcount — hiring and team development

Within your first 6 weeks:

• Understand the satellite bus design, simulation toolchain, and program schedule
• Establish working relationships with all subsystem leads and existing team members
• Take ownership of the engineering schedule and identify critical path risks
• Begin hiring and growing the engineering team — identify critical gaps, recruit, and build out the org with both direct and dotted-line reports
• Take ownership of engineering execution — coordinate across the organization and drive the program toward PDR

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical discipline
• 10+ years of engineering experience in aerospace or other hardware-intensive industries
• 5+ years of engineering management experience leading multidisciplinary teams
• Experience leading spacecraft or complex hardware development programs from design through environmental test and delivery
• Managed teams of 10+ engineers across multiple disciplines (EE, mechanical, thermal, GNC, software)
• Comfortable as technical authority — you can make architecture-level trade decisions across subsystems, not just manage process
• Experience with fast-paced, small-team hardware development — startup, new space, or skunkworks environments preferred
• Familiar with the full box development lifecycle: design, prototype, environmental test, CDR, flight build, ATP/QTP
• Comfortable with AI-assisted engineering tools and workflows
• Strong opinion on how to run a lean, effective hardware development program

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Able to obtain a security clearance
• Experience with CMG or reaction wheel development
• Medium-lift launch vehicle integration experience
• Experience delivering multi-satellite builds (constellation or batch production)
• Background in avionics, power systems, or ADCS