Senior Battery Mechanical Design Engineer

At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. We are building artificial gravity space stations, allowing long-term stays in space without the adverse effects of zero-gravity. Our initial crewed space habitat will be Haven-1, scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station when it launches into low earth orbit in August 2025. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.

• End-to-end ownership of battery and cell mechanical packaging specifications, simulation, CAD design, manufacturing, assembly, thermal runaway testing, environmental qualification (vibration, thermal vacuum), and integrated system-level validation
• Designs, develops, prototypes, and tests all aspects of mechanical components and drives manufacturing and assembly of batteries using 18650/21700/prismatic cells.
• Identifies appropriate materials and processes to ensure quality, performance, and manufacturability for the design of Passive Propagation Resistance (PPR) packaging.
• Develop battery models for mechanical, thermal, and system-level simulation
• Perform failure modes and effects analyses and drive reliability design and validation plans at the system level

Minimum Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience with CAD design and mechanical drawing development.
• 5+ years experience in hands-on assembly and testing.
• Experience interfacing with manufacturing and assembly for prototyping
• Previous battery mechanical design experience

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Ability to creatively solve problems and bring multiple disciplines together while assessing risk and making design and development decisions with incomplete data set
• Experience with full-lifecycle product development
• Experience with battery mechanical design for spaceflight environment, verifying workmanship and operability through environmental tests (random vibration, shock, thermal, TVAC, and thermal runaway testing)
• Experience working with battery systems and electrical systems.
• Experience with Siemens NX or similar modeling software, Altium, electrical design platforms, thermal analysis platforms, computational fluids dynamics (CFD) platforms, combustion analysis platforms
• Experience with GD&T implementation and analysis (ASME Y14.5)
• Strong sense of accountability and integrity with excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to thrive at an early-stage startup where you will have the opportunity to help create and optimize key systems and processes

Pay Range: 

• Senior Battery Mechanical Design Engineer Level III: $160,000-$180,000

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: 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, flexible paid time off for exempt staff and up to 15 days of vacation for non-exempt staff, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, free catered meals and snacks and beverages, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, One Medical membership, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks.

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.