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Vast

Solar Array Engineer, Mechanical

Location

Long Beach, CA

Wage

$112,340 – $230,472/yr

Employment Type

Full-time

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Posted on September 25, 2026

Job Description

Overview

Vast is developing next-generation space stations and infrastructure with a focus on low-cost solutions. They are seeking a Solar Array Engineer, Mechanical to support the design and testing of solar array mechanisms for human-rated space stations.

Responsibilities

  • Design and analyze mechanisms for solar array deployment.
  • Design and analyze mechanisms for solar array articulation.
  • Build and maintain torque budgets for mechanisms.
  • Select and specify drivetrain components for the space environment.
  • Perform or support mechanism life analysis and define qualification test programs.
  • Design for integration and test, developing deployment test procedures.
  • Interface with various teams to ensure mechanisms meet system-level requirements.
  • Support environmental test campaigns per SMC-S-016.
  • Perform or support failure analysis and mechanism anomaly resolution.
  • Participate in design reviews and technical documentation.

Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or related discipline.
  • 5–10 years of experience designing, building, and testing electromechanical systems.
  • Demonstrated experience with mechanism design fundamentals.
  • Ability to build and defend a torque budget for a mechanism.
  • Experience with environmental testing of mechanical hardware.
  • Hands-on experience with hardware integration.

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • PTO
  • 401k

Additional Information

  • Full-time, exempt position located in Long Beach, California.
  • Ability to travel up to 50% of the time.
  • Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones.
  • Ability to lift up to 25lbs unassisted.

Benefits

Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
PTO
401k
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Long Beach, CA

Pay in context

At roughly $82/hr, this posting sits about 62% above the $51/hr median for welding jobs in Long Beach, CA — toward the top of a $35–$69/hr middle band drawn from 51 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 92% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. Pay that far above local median usually comes attached to something: a harder cert requirement, travel, night shift, or overtime that isn't really optional. Worth establishing which before you accept.

The local market in Long Beach, CA

We're tracking 58 other active welding openings in Long Beach, CA right now, from 18 different employers. 13 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 592 other active welding openings from 268 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Long Beach, or widen the search to California.

Vast currently has 17 other openings live in California, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (37), Vast (17), and Relativity Space (17). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within California, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Gardena at $73/hr, Redondo Beach at $72/hr, and Pasadena at $61/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Similar openings near Long Beach, CA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Solar Array Engineer, Mechanical figures were last recalculated when this page was built.