{"id":2620992,"url":"https://alion.io/job/vastspace-staff-software-engineer-ai-tooling","title":"Staff Software Engineer, AI Tooling","company":{"id":185145,"name":"Vastspace","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":null},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"staff","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":159900,"max":226900,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":226900},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Prompt Engineering","optional":false},{"name":"Docker","optional":true},{"name":"JavaScript","optional":true},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":true},{"name":"LLM","optional":true},{"name":"Model Context Protocol","optional":true},{"name":"Open WebUI","optional":true},{"name":"Python","optional":true},{"name":"RAG","optional":true},{"name":"Svelte","optional":true},{"name":"SvelteKit","optional":true},{"name":"TypeScript","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-04-01T21:30:31Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-14","last_verified_at":"2026-10-15T17:09:55Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":196,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":196},"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 looking for a Staff Software Engineer, AI Tooling reporting to the Senior Manager, Software Engineering to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.\nThis will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location. \nResponsibilities: \nDefine the technical direction and long-term roadmap for Vast's internal AI platforms and tooling\nArchitect and lead the development of full-stack AI applications that serve diverse use-cases across the company\nEstablish engineering best practices, design patterns, and quality standards for AI systems development\nBuild and maintain production-grade integrations connecting AI models with internal tools, data sources, and workflows\nDesign and implement pipelines for AI response enforcement, content safety, and output formatting\nDrive the evaluation and adoption of emerging AI frameworks, models, and patterns to continuously improve internal tooling\nCollaborate cross-functionally with IT Infrastructure, security, and business stakeholders to integrate AI tooling with existing systems\nMentor and guide other engineers contributing to AI initiatives, fostering a culture of technical excellence\nEnsure the reliability, observability, and scalability of production AI systems\nRapidly iterate on AI tooling as the technology landscape and company needs evolve\nMinimum Qualifications:\nBachelor's degree in computer science, math, an engineering discipline, or equivalent work experience\n8+ years of software development or relevant industry experience\nProven track record of leading technical initiatives from concept through production deployment\nStrong full-stack development proficiency with experience across both frontend and backend systems\nDeep understanding of AI/ML concepts, large language model architectures, prompt engineering, and modern AI tooling patterns\nDemonstrated experience implementing and maintaining production applications at scale\nExperience establishing engineering best practices and providing technical mentorship\nStrong cross-functional communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts for diverse audiences\nPreferred Skills & Experience:\nExperience with Python and TypeScript in production environments\nExperience with Svelte or SvelteKit\nExperience with OpenWebUI or similar open-source AI interface platforms\nExperience building or integrating MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers and gateways\nExperience with LLM API integration and AI pipeline development\nExperience with containerization and deployment (Docker, Kubernetes)\nFamiliarity with RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) patterns and vector databases\nExperience building or leading AI/ML platforms at scale\nPrior experience as a tech lead or in a similar engineering leadership role\nExperience working in fast-paced, ambiguous environments with evolving requirements\nAdditional Requirements:\nAbility to travel up to 10% of the time\nWillingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones\nAbility to lift up to 25 lbs unassisted\nSpecific certifications, as appropriate\nPay Range: \nSenior Software Engineer, AI Tooling: $159,900 - $226,900\nStaff Software Engineer, AI Tooling: $188,600 - $267,700\nPay Range: California\n$159,900—$267,700 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":6691,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"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":["Space & Aerospace"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-15T13:23:20Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":12,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.433,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":196,"expected_fill_days":47,"reasons":["conf:0","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-15T17:58:03Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":226900,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/vastspace-staff-software-engineer-ai-tooling","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/vastspace-staff-software-engineer-ai-tooling.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-15T17:58:03Z","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":27170,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-16T00:00:00Z"}},"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-staff-software-engineer-ai-tooling"},{"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-staff-software-engineer-ai-tooling"},{"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-staff-software-engineer-ai-tooling"},{"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-staff-software-engineer-ai-tooling\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fvastspace-staff-software-engineer-ai-tooling"}]}