Lead Manufacturing Engineer, Thermal Control Systems

Vast is looking for a Lead Manufacturing Engineer, Thermal Control Systems (TCS), reporting to the Manager, Structures & Fluids Manufacturing, to lead the team responsible for the development, production, and integration of thermal control hardware for artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.

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

Responsibilities:

Lead the TCS manufacturing engineering team day to day: set priorities, assign ownership, run team rhythms, and mentor engineers

Participate in hiring and onboarding new engineers to the team

Own manufacturing development, production readiness, and build execution for TCS hardware, including pumps, fluid loops, coldplates, heaters, and tubing, while staying hands-on with your own hardware

Own the TCS manufacturing schedule and build sequencing across concurrent vehicle builds

Report hardware status, risks, and mitigation plans to program leadership, including a regular company-wide TCS hardware status update

Partner with design engineering to drive design for manufacturing and assembly and production readiness from early design trades through flight hardware

Drive development and qualification of special processes including welding, brazing, tube bending, cleaning, passivation, leak testing, and pressure testing

Set standards for work instructions, inspection plans, and nonconformance disposition; drive root cause and corrective action to closure

Work with technicians, quality, supply chain, test, integration, and M&P teams to ensure successful system integration

Support supplier development and manufacturing readiness for externally produced components and assemblies

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in an engineering or science discipline

5+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, production engineering, or hardware development for fluid, thermal, environmental control, or life support systems

3+ years of hands-on hardware experience supporting fabrication, assembly, integration, and/or testing

Experience developing manufacturing processes, work instructions, build plans, or production documentation for complex hardware

Experience mentoring engineers or leading a workstream, build, or small team (formal people management experience not required)

Preferred Skills & Experience:

Master’s degree in an engineering discipline

Experience as a technical lead, project lead, or informal team lead on hardware programs

Experience participating in hiring and interviewing engineers

Strong interest in developing into a people manager

Experience supporting production or build execution for aerospace, spacecraft, propulsion, ECLSS, thermal, fluid, or other high-reliability hardware

Strong experience with design for manufacturing and assembly, production readiness, process development, and manufacturing risk reduction

Proactive problem-solving skills, including failure analysis, root cause investigation, corrective action implementation, and design of experiments

Ability to perform trade studies using first principles and engineering fundamentals to make clear recommendations with partial information

Experience with rotating machinery, pumps, valves, heat exchangers, coldplates, pressure vessels, fans, separators, or other fluid system components

Experience with soft goods, flexible ducting, seals, insulation, or other non-metallic flight hardware

Solid understanding and application of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, tolerance stack-up analysis, and inspection planning

Experience with structural analysis methods, including hand calculations, FEMAP, or ANSYS, to evaluate manufacturability, strength, life, and fracture considerations

Knowledge of metallic and fluid system manufacturing techniques, processes, equipment, and special processes, including machining, welding, brazing, tube bending, cleaning, passivation, leak testing, proof testing, and pressure testing

Experience working directly with technicians on the shop floor to troubleshoot builds, improve processes, and execute hardware efficiently

Ability to work well in an integrated, collaborative team environment, including frequent interaction with technicians, engineers, quality, supply chain, and managers

Highly self-motivated with strong organizational and written/oral communication skills; able to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment with an ongoing drive for continuous improvement

Pay Range: California

$120,000—$194,000 USD