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Vast

Senior Thermal Engineer

Vast · Long Beach, California, United States

Posted about 3 months ago

or apply directly on Vast's site. We never take the application ourselves.

Is this posting real?

This role has been open
103 days
Vast's roles stay open a median of 103 days
Reposted
No
Salary listed
No
35% of Vast's roles list one
Ghost-job risk at Vast
high
202 stale, 5 reposted of 202 open
Hiring momentum
67 roles opened in the last 90 days
↓ down vs. the prior 90 days
Last confirmed on the employer's board
2026-11-14

Measured from postings appearing on and disappearing from Vast's own greenhouse board since 2026-08-03. Full hiring picture for Vast.

About this role

As a Senior Thermal Engineer at Vast, you will define the thermal architecture and conduct thermal analysis for a new 15kW spacecraft bus designed for scalability. Your role involves addressing thermal challenges across various payload configurations, contributing to thermal models, and owning the thermal budget from system architecture to flight delivery. You will also be responsible for planning test campaigns and building a thermal engineering team as the program grows.

Our read on this posting3.2out of 5
benefits
5/5
freshness
1/5
career value
5/5
role clarity
5/5
pay transparency
0/5

Scored from the posting itself — how clearly the role is described, how much it says about pay and benefits, and how recently it was listed. Not a judgement of Vast as an employer.

What you need

  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline
  • 6+ years of spacecraft or aerospace thermal engineering experience
  • Spacecraft thermal control design and analysis experience — passive and active systems
  • Built and correlated thermal models for flight hardware
  • Experience with high-power / high-dissipation thermal challenges
  • Familiar with thermal coatings, MLI, radiators, heat pipes, thermal straps

Nice to have

  • Able to obtain a security clearance
  • Experience with multi-satellite builds where thermal design must be consistent across units
  • High-power-density thermal design experience
  • Thermal design for payloads with variable duty cycles
  • Cryogenic or specialized thermal control experience

What you get

  • Base salary varies depending on experience and skills
  • Company equity
  • Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents
  • Generous paid time off; up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff
  • Paid parental leave
  • Short and long-term disability insurance

Worth weighing

  • No specific mention of remote work options
  • The role involves significant responsibility as the sole thermal engineer initially
  • High expectations for thermal architecture recommendations with incomplete data
  • The position may require obtaining a security clearance

Summarised from Vast's posting. Read the full original.

Listed by Vast on their greenhouse job board, last confirmed open on 2026-11-14. PitchMeAI is not the employer.

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