Senior Infrastructure Engineer

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 Infrastructure Engineer, reporting to the Manager, IT Infrastructure, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of human-rated space stations. In this role you will have the opportunity to build a modern IT infrastructure from the ground up. We build our systems cloud-first, with an emphasis on researching and deploying the latest technologies and paradigms.

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

Responsibilities

• Independently design, build, and maintain complex, highly available, secure, and cost-optimized systems in AWS, Kubernetes, and Linux/Windows server environments
• Write high-quality infrastructure-as-code and automations to make systems reliable and easier to maintain
• Act as technical lead for infrastructure projects. Set the roadmap and pacing, break work into milestones and tasks, and coordinate work among team members
• Provide quality support for your systems. Respond urgently to issues and identify root causes to prevent recurrence

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience designing, deploying, and managing enterprise IT infrastructure
• Proficiency with public cloud systems (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Experience with infrastructure as code, including terraform, gitops, ansible, and/or puppet
• Broad IT expertise, can integrate infrastructure with networking, security, DevOps, and software development

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience with self-hosted AI systems, AI agents, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) platforms
• Experience writing Lambdas and scripts to automate configuration and recurring tasks
• Understanding of networking protocols and infrastructure (BGP, VPNs, DNS, DHCP)
• Experience working with ITAR, NIST, FIPS, and FedRAMP compliant systems
• Excellent written and verbal communication. You can explain technical concepts to people unfamiliar with them and gather requirements from cross-functional partners

Additional Requirements

• Willingness to work overtime, or weekends to support critical mission milestones

Pay Range: California

$146,000—$208,000 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.