Senior Photo Editor

<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 Photo Editor</strong> to join its Media Production team on a fixed-term basis, reporting to the <strong>Senior Manager, Media Production</strong>. The ideal candidate is a technically precise, visually confident retoucher who can move fast without cutting corners, and who understands color and light well enough to make judgment calls, not just execute a brief. This is a high-leverage engagement: the work this person does in a short window will directly determine how consistent and premium Vast's photography looks going forward.</p> <p>This is a hands-on, IC role for someone who can walk into an existing body of work, understand the visual direction, and both execute against it and help define it more clearly. You'll work through a real backlog of unedited production photography, and in parallel help formalize the color, light, and retouching standards the team uses so decisions don't have to be re-made from scratch on every shoot.</p> <p>This is an in-person role based in <strong>Long Beach, CA</strong> and runs as a <strong>60 day fixed-term position</strong>, with potential to extend.</p> <p><strong>Responsibilities</strong></p> <ul> <li>Clear the Backlog: Process existing unedited photography from past shoots to final, delivery-ready quality.</li> <li>Post-Production &amp; Workflow: Manage file handling from ingest to delivery (filenaming, packaging, archiving) and build reusable presets to streamline operations.</li> <li>Define Visual Standards: Partner with the Media Production team to document and maintain consistent color, light, and retouching standards across all photography and photographers.</li> <li>Support Live Production (as needed): Oversee capture-to-delivery for active shoots, including providing on-set Digitech support.</li> <li>Photography (as needed): Execute product, hardware, portrait, or event photography as required, maintaining the same high quality standards.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Minimum Qualifications</strong></p> <ul> <li>5+ years of professional experience as a photo retoucher or photo editor across commercial, brand, or editorial work.</li> <li>Deep proficiency in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, CaptureOne, with strong command of color grading, light balancing, and high-end retouching technique.</li> <li>Demonstrated ability to define or work within brand-level visual standards, not just execute a one-off brief.</li> <li>Strong eye for consistency across a large volume of images, evidenced through a portfolio showing range and a clear point of view.</li> <li>Able to work independently and move fast without sacrificing quality, this is a short engagement with real volume behind it.</li> <li>Local to LA/Long Beach and available to be onsite..</li> </ul> <p><strong>Preferred Skills &amp; Experience</strong></p> <ul> <li>Photography experience (product, hardware, portrait, or event) as a backup capability.</li> <li>Experience shooting or editing for aerospace, tech, or other technical/industrial brands.</li> <li>Experience building documented style guides or visual standards for a brand or production team.</li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Pay Range: California</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$45</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$64 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS<br></strong><br>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.</p> <p style="line-height: 1;"><strong><br>U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS<br><br></strong>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.<br><br></p> <p style="line-height: 1;"><strong>EQUAL OPPORTUNITY</strong><br><br>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.</p></div>