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