{"id":2620978,"url":"https://alion.io/job/vastspace-senior-thermal-engineer","title":"Senior Thermal Engineer","company":{"id":185145,"name":"Vast Space","domain":"vastspace.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/vastspace","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":83,"open_postings":61,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.689,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":49,"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Long Beach, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":147600,"max":209520,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":209520},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":6,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Digital Twin","optional":false},{"name":"Thermal Desktop","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-06-08T22:08:08Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-20","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T08:45:07Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":148,"trust":{"level":"stale","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale"],"days_open":148},"description":"Vast is developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure using an incremental, hardware-rich, and low-cost approach. Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station 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. 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 in 2027, followed by additional Haven modules. Additionally, the company recently announced Vast Satellite, a high-power satellite product line leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo.\nHeadquartered inLong Beach, California, and with more than 1,000 employees and over a billion dollars in private capital, Vast has built the facilities required to manufacture and operate America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats and systems for the Moon and Mars, dedicated space stations for government partners, and other crewed systems that will unlock the expanding long-term space economy.\nVast is seeking a Senior Thermal Engineer 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. \nThis will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location. \nAbout this role:\nWe'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.\nThe 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.\nResponsibilities: \nDefine the thermal control architecture - trade passive, heat pipe, and pumped fluid loop approaches, radiator sizing and placement\nPerform system-level and component-level thermal analysis for the satellite bus across all payload configurations\nAddress the high-power thermal challenge - Nvidia compute module drives heat rejection requirements that may force the architecture\nContribute 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)\nDevelop and maintain the detailed system thermal model\nOwn the thermal budget - min/max temperatures per component vs qualification limits, across all orbital conditions\nSelect thermal coatings and materials (AZ-93, S13G, Kapton, Aeroglaze, etc.)\nSpecify and procure emissivity control materials and RTDs (temperature sensors)\nPlan TVAC test campaigns - define chamber requirements, test profiles, success criteria (feeds facility planning)\nCorrelate thermal models to test data after environmental testing\nSupport solar array thermal analysis (coordinate with solar array team lead)\nSupport box-level thermal design for new clean-sheet avionics designs - power dissipation, interface temperatures, mounting thermal resistance\nMinimum Qualifications:\nBachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline\n6+ years of spacecraft or aerospace thermal engineering experience\nSpacecraft thermal control design and analysis experience - passive and active systems\nBuilt and correlated thermal models for flight hardware\nExperience with high-power / high-dissipation thermal challenges\nFamiliar with thermal coatings, MLI, radiators, heat pipes, thermal straps\nTVAC test planning and execution experience\nComfortable working during early architecture phases - you can make thermal architecture recommendations with incomplete data and refine as the design matures\nExperience across multiple thermal analysis tools (Thermal Desktop, SINDA, ESATAN, or equivalent)\nPreferred Skills & Experience:\nAble to obtain a security clearance\nExperience with multi-satellite builds where thermal design must be consistent across units\nHigh-power-density thermal design experience\nThermal design for payloads with variable duty cycles\nCryogenic or specialized thermal control experience\nPay Range: California\n$147,600—$209,520 USD\nWe calibrate level and compensation to the selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability. We welcome applicants across a range of experience levels to apply.\nCOMPENSATION AND BENEFITS\n\nBase 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 & 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.\n\nU.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS\n 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 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 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.\nEQUAL OPPORTUNITY\nVast 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.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6877,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":6,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Life insurance","Parental leave","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Manufacturing","Space & Aerospace","Aerospace Manufacturing","Satellite Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-15T13:23:20Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":13,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.46,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":148,"expected_fill_days":49,"reasons":["conf:2","stale_co","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":209520,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/vastspace-senior-thermal-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/vastspace-senior-thermal-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-04T11:05:40Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":16438,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-05T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":185145},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=185145"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fvastspace-senior-thermal-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fvastspace-senior-thermal-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fvastspace-senior-thermal-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/vastspace-senior-thermal-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fvastspace-senior-thermal-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":2620978}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"vastspace.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":2620978},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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