Director, Sub Assemblies Manufacturing

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.

Vast is looking for a(n) Director, Sub Assemblies Manufacturing, reporting to the Vice President of Manufacturing, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of human-rated space stations.

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

• Define and execute the manufacturing strategy for mechanical subassemblies, Thermal Control Systems (TCS), and Environmental Control & Life Support Systems (ECLSS), aligning manufacturing capability with spacecraft performance, build schedules, and mission objectives.

• Lead cross-functional manufacturing execution across engineering, quality, supply chain, and test to drive production readiness, resolve manufacturing constraints, and enable successful hardware delivery.

• Translate program requirements and build cadence into manufacturing operating models, resource plans, factory layouts, work center architecture, and capacity roadmaps.

• Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), and Design for Test (DFT) through early engagement with engineering, influencing product architecture, interface definitions, test access, tolerance schemes, and manufacturing risk before release.

• Own prototype-to-production transitions by establishing manufacturing work centers, qualifying tooling and processes, developing production documentation, and enabling repeatable flight hardware production.

• Develop make/buy strategies and manufacturing capability roadmaps, determining which subassemblies, fabrication processes, and test operations should be vertically integrated versus outsourced.

• Establish manufacturing quality standards and production readiness gates, ensuring compliance with AS9100, NASA human-rated requirements, and disciplined configuration control throughout the hardware lifecycle.

• Drive manufacturing performance through digital production systems and data analytics, leveraging MES, Jira, Tableau, and operational metrics to improve throughput, yield, nonconformance resolution, and factory performance.

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives across mechanical assembly, tubing, thermal systems, and ECLSS manufacturing by applying lean principles, standard work, and production system optimization to improve safety, quality, delivery, and cost.

• Build, mentor, and develop high-performing manufacturing engineering, test engineering, and technician organizations while establishing the manufacturing culture, operating rhythm, and technical standards required to scale future spacecraft production.

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing