Senior Build Reliability Engineer (Structures)
Vast · Long Beach, CA
- Level
- Senior
- Team
- Reliability
- Base pay
- $86k–$122k
- Travel
- 5%
- Degree
- Required (or equivalent experience)
- Experience asked
- 1+ years
- Industry
- Aerospace & defense
- Posted
- 30+ days ago
The role in 30 seconds
A senior reliability 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 (or equivalent experience)
- Tools it names
- Root cause, GD&T, ISO 9001, AS9100, Machining, Welding
- Base pay
- $86k–$122k
- Day to day
- about 5% travel
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
How this role compares
Against 89 other live reliability postings in California.
- Base pay
- About 23% below similar roles
- Experience asked
- Less than usual (1+ vs 5+)
Typical $111k–$160k, from 50 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Root cause 79%
- FMEA 50%
- ✓ New product launch 49%
- Automation 39%
- DOE 29%
- SPC 24%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for Painting / coating, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
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 Reliability team at Vast
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- The posting says about 5% travel. Between which sites?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 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.
This plant: Vast in Long Beach
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Full description from VastAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Responsibilities
- ◆Own Build Reliability for piece part fabrication and structural sub-assemblies, setting expectations for reliability, manufacturability, and build and flight readiness, and ensuring lessons are learned and applied to future programs.
- ◆Enable successful introduction of new products to production, ensuring designs are manufacturable,
requirements
are valid and verifiable, measurement systems and processes are capable and efficient, and work instructions, equipment, tooling, and personnel are ready to achieve rate reliably.
- ✓Mature manufacturing and verification processes by improving process controls, tooling, measurement methods, data collection, work instructions, and training.
- ✓Collect and analyze build data to identify risk and recurring issues. Lead build quality reviews, generate data-driven recommendations to prevent issues and quality escapes, and effectively implement them in collaboration with partner teams.
- ✓Ensure off-nominal work is performed and documented reliably. Provide leadership and technical direction for high-visibility issues, establishing recovery plans and aligning operations, quality, and engineering on execution. Partner with Mission Assurance to ensure risks are escalated and properly mitigated across Vast.
- ✓Lead containment and root-cause investigation of high-impact issues. Ensure implementation and verification of corrective actions that address root cause and systemic contributors.
- ✓Lead cost-of-quality reduction initiatives that simplify requirements, leverage part and feature criticality to streamline inspection, improve design standards, and strengthen process controls to prevent non-conformances at the source.
Qualifications
- ✓Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline or equivalent experience
- ✓1+ years of experience in manufacturing, design, quality, reliability, or related roles (internship experience qualifies)
- ✓Fluency in geometric dimensioning & tolerancing (GD&T)
- ✓Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills, with the ability to work collaboratively in fast-paced environments
Preferred Skills & Experience
- ✓Direct experience working on any of the following products/processes:
- ✓Machining and related post-processing manufacturing processes (deburring, coating, precision cleaning)
- ✓Drilling, fastening, welding, and other assembly manufacturing processes
- ✓Complex mechanical/structural assemblies
- ✓Additive manufacturing
- ✓Precision dimensional inspection methods such as coordinate measuring machines (CMM) and laser measuring systems
- ✓Experience using data analysis tools or basic statistical methods to solve problems
- ✓Demonstrated ability to learn new tools, processes, and technical concepts quickly
- ✓Working knowledge of quality systems and standards (ISO 9001, AS9100, etc.)
- ✓Detail-oriented mindset and a proactive approach to problem prevention
- ✓Exposure to aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability manufacturing environments
Additional
Requirements
- ✓Ability to travel up to 5%
- ✓Ability to support mission-critical events outside normal working hours
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
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 Build Reliability Engineer (Structures), reporting to the Director of Build & Supplier Reliability , to support the reliability of vehicle integration and test operations across the product lifecycle for our human-rated space stations.
This will be a full-time , exempt position located in our Long Beach location.
Pay Range
- •Build Reliability Engineer I: $86,000 - $122,000
- •Build Reliability Engineer II: $122,000 - $159,000
Pay Range: California
$86,000 — $159,000 USD