Senior System Architect, Lunar

Vast is looking for a Senior System Architect, Lunar, reporting to the Senior Vice President, Lunar Programs, to support the development of the systems that will be required for Vast’s Lunar ecosystem.

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

Responsibilities: 

• Define, develop, and maintain the end-to-end system architecture for Vast's Lunar ecosystem, spanning surface habitats, power and energy, communications/PNT, logistics, and crew systems
• Translate NASA Moon Base architecture, mission needs, and human-rating requirements into Vast system requirements, concepts of operations, and interface control documents
• Perform architecture trade studies across mission design, transportation and lander compatibility, surface element sizing, autonomy, and in-situ resource utilization to inform program decisions
• Adapt and extend proven Haven Demo, Haven-1, Haven Station, and Vast Satellite technologies, subsystems, and operational knowledge to the lunar environment
• Collaborate daily with internal engineering teams — structures, life support (ECLSS), avionics and power, software, thermal, and human factors to decompose the architecture into executable subsystem designs and to flow capabilities and best practices up to the overall architecture
• Develop and manage system budgets (mass, power, data, thermal, consumables)
• Identify architecture-level risks, drive mitigation strategies, and support program milestone reviews
• Represent Vast's lunar architecture with external partners, suppliers, and customers, and support business development and proposal efforts as needed

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field
• 6+ years of experience in design ownership, systems integration, test engineering, of which at least 1+ years are systems engineering focused
• Experience owning system-level architecture, requirements, and interfaces across the full lifecycle, from concept development through design reviews
• Strong working knowledge of spacecraft subsystems and their interactions (power, thermal, life support, avionics, communications, structures)
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical trades clearly to executives, customers, and engineers

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Strong systems-level intuition and experience in technical leadership roles on spacecraft, launch vehicles, or other mission- or safety-critical systems
• Experience working on lunar engineering programs
• Comprehensive understanding of one or more core engineering disciplines (Structures, Thermal, Avionics, Power, Flight Software, etc.)
• Demonstrated experience working with NASA or other government customers on technical requirements, deliverables, and reviews
• Hands-on experience with requirements and/or project management tools
• Experience leading design reviews (PDR, CDR) and verification campaigns
• Familiarity with NASA's Moon Base program, Artemis architecture, human-rating standards, and/or commercial partnership models
• Experience with crewed systems, habitats, or life support in extreme environments
• Experience in a fast-paced, hardware-rich startup environment with rapid design-build-test cycles
• Experience standing up new programs or teams from the ground up

Additional Requirements:

• Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones
• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time to support customer meetings