Industrial Engineer

Vast · Long Beach, CA

Level: Engineer
Team: Industrial
Base pay: $84k–$120k
Degree: Required
Experience asked: 1+ years
Industry: Aerospace & defense
Posted: 30+ days ago

The role in 30 seconds

An engineer-level industrial role at Vast (aerospace & defense) in Long Beach, CA. Additionally, the company recently announced Vast Satellite , a high-power satellite product line leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo.

They ask for: 1+ years · degree required
Tools it names: Lean, Six Sigma, Value stream mapping, Plant layout, Capacity planning, SolidWorks
Base pay: $84k–$120k

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

It asks for 1+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone on the team first.

At a glance

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How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

1
Pick 2–3 people on the Industrial team at Vast
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2
Send a short, curious note
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3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is it more layout and capacity work, or time studies and standard work?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
4
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5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

About the role

requirements

as the program scales, partnering closely with the Program Operations Engineering team to ensure business objectives are met

✓Partner with production and operations teams to evaluate layout options and space trades, challenging footprint assumptions and right-sizing work centers through an iterative design process that evolves with the program
✓Host regular process walks of production lines, questioning every step to identify what can be deleted, simplified, or standardized, and drive those changes to completion
✓Lead structured continuous improvement programs using Lean, Six Sigma, and value stream methodologies, conducting time and motion studies (MOST, Yamazumi) to identify bottlenecks and implement scalable solutions that measurably improve throughput and reduce cycle time
✓Drive process standardization across products, assemblies, and work centers to reduce variability and build the operational foundation required for sustainable rate scaling
✓Develop tools and analyses to diagnose delivery, capacity, and cost problems, translating production data into clear, actionable decisions for manufacturing and operations leadership
✓Execute complex projects with urgency, minimizing time and cost to the business — get hands-on, lead by example, and get things done

Basic

Qualifications

✓Bachelor's degree in Industrial, Manufacturing, Mechanical, or related engineering discipline
✓1+ years of professional or internship experience in a manufacturing environment

Preferred Qualifications

✓Experience as an industrial, operations, or manufacturing engineer in a high-pace developmental or early production manufacturing environment, with exposure to ramping from development through rate production
✓Demonstrated experience in factory layout design, capacity modeling, and process mapping
✓Proficiency in CAD tools for layout and workspace design (e.g. SketchUp, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or equivalent)

Show full 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.

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 seeking an Industrial Engineer , reporting to the Manager, Industrial Engineering , to design and optimize current and future manufacturing facilities. In this role, you will apply your expertise to creatively design and bring to life the spaces that will build space stations and satellites. The scope of this team spans capacity planning, questioning requirements, first-principles thinking, process simplification, CAD modeling, cross-functional leadership, creative problem solving, and schedule accountability.

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

Resp onsibilities

•Design and own factory and production area layouts, maintaining up-to-date floor plans and work center configurations with clear visual indicators and linear flow as guiding principles
•Lead future-state factory design and capacity planning to meet rate production

Pay Ranges

•Industrial Engineer I: $84,460.00 - $119,892.00
•Industrial Engineer II: $96,760.00 - $137,352.00
•Senior Industrial Engineer: $104,960.00 - $148,992.00

Pay Range: California

$84,460 — $148,992 USD

U.s. export control compliance status

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),