Staff Software Engineer, AI Tooling

Vast · Long Beach, California, United States

  • Senior
  • Full-time
  • $159,900 – $226,900
  • Posted 2026-04-01
  • Confirmed live on 25 September 2026

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Job 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 looking for a Staff Software Engineer, AI Tooling reporting to the Senior Manager, Software Engineering to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.

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

Responsibilities:

• Define the technical direction and long-term roadmap for Vast's internal AI platforms and tooling

• Architect and lead the development of full-stack AI applications that serve diverse use-cases across the company

• Establish engineering best practices, design patterns, and quality standards for AI systems development

• Build and maintain production-grade integrations connecting AI models with internal tools, data sources, and workflows

• Design and implement pipelines for AI response enforcement, content safety, and output formatting

• Drive the evaluation and adoption of emerging AI frameworks, models, and patterns to continuously improve internal tooling

• Collaborate cross-functionally with IT Infrastructure, security, and business stakeholders to integrate AI tooling with existing systems

• Mentor and guide other engineers contributing to AI initiatives, fostering a culture of technical excellence

• Ensure the reliability, observability, and scalability of production AI systems

• Rapidly iterate on AI tooling as the technology landscape and company needs evolve

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, math, an engineering discipline, or equivalent work experience

• 8+ years of software development or relevant industry experience

• Proven track record of leading technical initiatives from concept through production deployment

• Strong full-stack development proficiency with experience across both frontend and backend systems

• Deep understanding of AI/ML concepts, large language model architectures, prompt engineering, and modern AI tooling patterns

• Demonstrated experience implementing and maintaining production applications at scale

• Experience establishing engineering best practices and providing technical mentorship

• Strong cross-functional communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts for diverse audiences

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience with Python and TypeScript in production environments

• Experience with Svelte or SvelteKit

• Experience with OpenWebUI or similar open-source AI interface platforms

• Experience building or integrating MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers and gateways

• Experience with LLM API integration and AI pipeline development

• Experience with containerization and deployment (Docker, Kubernetes)

• Familiarity with RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) patterns and vector databases

• Experience building or leading AI/ML platforms at scale

• Prior experience as a tech lead or in a similar engineering leadership role

• Experience working in fast-paced, ambiguous environments with evolving requirements

Additional Requirements:

• Ability to travel up to 10% of the time

• Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones

• Ability to lift up to 25 lbs unassisted

• Specific certifications, as appropriate

Pay Range:

• Senior Software Engineer, AI Tooling: $159,900 - $226,900

• Staff Software Engineer, AI Tooling: $188,600 - $267,700

Pay Range: California
$159,900—$267,700 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,

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