Senior Thermal Engineer

<div class="content-intro"><p>At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. Vast is developing next-generation space stations 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. Using an incremental, hardware-rich and low-cost approach, Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station. 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, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.</p></div><p>Vast is seeking a <strong>Senior Thermal Engineer</strong> to define the thermal architecture and own thermal analysis for a new constellation-ready 15kW spacecraft bus — a product line designed to scale to hundreds of spacecraft per year. </p> <p>This will be a <strong>full-time</strong>, <strong>exempt </strong>position located in our <strong>Long Beach </strong>location. </p> <p><strong>About this role:</strong></p> <p>We're designing a high-power satellite bus that accommodates multiple payload types — including a compute-intensive Nvidia payload with significant thermal dissipation. The thermal architecture is a first-order design decision for this bus, not an afterthought. You'll own thermal analysis and design from system architecture through flight delivery, starting during the architecture trade studies.</p> <p>The thermal challenges span the full range: multiple payload configurations with different thermal profiles, high-power-density electronics with demanding heat rejection requirements, and a production-rate design that must be repeatable across hundreds of spacecraft. You'll start as the sole thermal engineer and build a team as the program scales.</p> <p><strong>Responsibilities: </strong></p> <ul> <li>Define the thermal control architecture — trade passive, heat pipe, and pumped fluid loop approaches, radiator sizing and placement</li> <li>Perform system-level and component-level thermal analysis for the satellite bus across all payload configurations</li> <li>Address the high-power thermal challenge — Nvidia compute module drives heat rejection requirements that may force the architecture</li> <li>Contribute first-order thermal models to the spacecraft design, simulation, and digital twin tool for fast design iteration, then validate using traditional analysis tools (e.g., Thermal Desktop)</li> <li>Develop and maintain the detailed system thermal model</li> <li>Own the thermal budget — min/max temperatures per component vs qualification limits, across all orbital conditions</li> <li>Select thermal coatings and materials (AZ-93, S13G, Kapton, Aeroglaze, etc.)</li> <li>Specify and procure emissivity control materials and RTDs (temperature sensors)</li> <li>Plan TVAC test campaigns — define chamber requirements, test profiles, success criteria (feeds facility planning)</li> <li>Correlate thermal models to test data after environmental testing</li> <li>Support solar array thermal analysis (coordinate with solar array team lead)</li> <li>Support box-level thermal design for new clean-sheet avionics designs — power dissipation, interface temperatures, mounting thermal resistance</li> </ul> <p><strong>Minimum Qualifications:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline</li> <li>6+ years of spacecraft or aerospace thermal engineering experience</li> <li>Spacecraft thermal control design and analysis experience — passive and active systems</li> <li>Built and correlated thermal models for flight hardware</li> <li>Experience with high-power / high-dissipation thermal challenges</li> <li>Familiar with thermal coatings, MLI, radiators, heat pipes, thermal straps</li> <li>TVAC test planning and execution experience</li> <li>Comfortable working during early architecture phases — you can make thermal architecture recommendations with incomplete data and refine as the design matures</li> <li>Experience across multiple thermal analysis tools (Thermal Desktop, SINDA, ESATAN, or equivalent)</li> </ul> <p><strong>Preferred Skills &amp; Experience:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Able to obtain a security clearance</li> <li>Experience with multi-satellite builds where thermal design must be consistent across units</li> <li>High-power-density thermal design experience</li> <li>Thermal design for payloads with variable duty cycles</li> <li>Cryogenic or specialized thermal control experience</li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$147,600</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$209,520 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><div style="line-height: 1;"> </div> <div style="line-height: 1;"><strong>COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS</strong></div> <div style="line-height: 1;"> </div> <div style="line-height: 1;"> <div> <div data-qa="message_pane"> <div> <div id="message-list"> <div id="message-list"> <div data-qa="slack_kit_scrollbar"> <div> <div data-qa="slack_kit_list"> <div id="message-list_1770163429.476589" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1770163429.476589"> <div data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false" data-msg-ts="1770163429.476589" data-msg-channel-id="D1T52LDR4"> <div data-qa-hover="true"> <div> <div> <div> <div data-qa="message_content"> <div> <div data-qa="message-text"> <div data-qa="block-kit-renderer"> <div> <div> <div>Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand. Salary is just one component of our comprehensive compensation package. Full-time employees also receive company equity, as well as access to a full suite of compelling benefits and perks, including: medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, generous paid time off; up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff and up to 10+ days of vacation for non-exempt staff with the ability to cash-out unused vacation annually, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks. We also take pride in offering exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee &amp; onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals remaining free of charge, and lunch subsidized as part of Vast’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality meals for employees.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="message-list_bottomSpacer" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="bottomSpacer"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div> <div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div style="line-height: 1;"> <p><strong>U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS</strong></p> The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a “U.S. person” as defined by <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/section-120.62">22 C.F.R. § 120.62</a> or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. This status includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending.</div> <div style="line-height: 1;"> </div> <p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>EQUAL OPPORTUNITY</strong></p> <div style="line-height: 1;">Vast is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vast is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.</div></div>