Senior Technical Project Manager, Lunar

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.

Headquartered in Long 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.

Vast is looking for a Senior Technical Project Manager to support our Lunar Program, reporting to the Senior Vice President, Lunar Programs. As a founding program management hire for this team, you will bridge engineering execution and program management, owning the technical plan, schedule, and risk posture that moves lunar hardware from design to flight. You will work closely with Responsible Engineers to understand the technical drivers behind cost and schedule, make informed tradeoffs, and define the processes that the program will inherit as it scales.

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

Responsibilities:

• Lead technical planning and execution of Lunar program activities across design, manufacturing, test, integration, and operations
• Build and maintain the integrated master schedule (IMS), grounded in engineering workflows, test flows, and integration sequences, with critical path and schedule risk analysis
• Partner with Responsible Engineers and systems engineering to break down technical scope, define work packages, and track design maturity against program milestones
• Track requirements, interfaces, and verification status across subsystems, and identify technical gaps that threaten cost, schedule, or performance
• Run the program’s technical risk and opportunity process, working with engineering leads to assess likelihood and impact, define mitigations, and drive burn-down
• Facilitate trade studies and technical decision-making by framing options, gathering engineering input, and presenting cost, schedule, and performance impacts to leadership
• Coordinate major design reviews (CoDR, PDR, CDR), test readiness reviews, and flight readiness activities, ensuring technical entrance and exit criteria are met
• Develop and manage program budgets, cost estimates, and resource plans, connecting technical scope changes to cost and schedule impacts
• Partner with supply chain and engineering to track critical procurements, long-lead items, and supplier technical performance, and drive recovery plans when issues arise
• Serve as a technical point of contact for customer and partner program teams, including government customers, managing technical deliverables, data packages, and milestone reviews
• Establish technical program management processes, tools, and standards that scale with the program, and mentor project managers as the team grows

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering or technical discipline
• 6+ years of combined experience in engineering and technical program or project management for complex hardware programs in aerospace, defense, or similar industries
• Hands-on engineering experience in design, test, integration, or systems engineering of hardware
• Demonstrated ownership of technical scope, schedule, and risk for a hardware development program from planning through delivery

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience managing spaceflight hardware programs through design, qualification, integration, and launch
• Background in systems engineering, including requirements management, interface control, and verification planning
• Familiarity with spacecraft subsystems such as propulsion, avionics, power, GNC, thermal, and structures, and how their development drives program cost and schedule
• Experience with government contracts and customers (e.g., NASA, DoD), including milestone-based or fixed-price contracts and technical customer reviews
• Proficiency with scheduling and project management tools (e.g., Microsoft Project, Primavera P6, Smartsheet, Jira) and requirements tools (e.g., Jama, DOORS)
• Familiarity with earned value management (EVM), cost and schedule baselining, and variance reporting
• Experience standing up program management processes in a fast-paced, resource-constrained startup environment
• PMP or similar certification
• Demonstrated experience mentoring or leading project managers and cross-functional teams, formally or informally
• Ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams and operate independently with limited direction, thriving in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment

Additional Requirements:

• Willingness to travel to test sites, including Mojave and supplier or outside test facilities, as required
• Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones

Pay Range: California

$139,000 - $218,000 USD

We calibrate level and compensation to the selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability. We welcome applicants across a range of experience levels to apply.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Base 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.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Vast 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.