Software Engineer
Posted 1 Apr 2026
Advertised as “Staff Software Engineer, AI Tooling”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Expected experience
- 8+ yrs
- Management level
- People management
- Employment
- On-Site
No salary listed for this role.
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