Staff Software Engineer, AI Tooling
Vast
| Company | Vast |
| Category | Engineering |
| Location | Long Beach |
| Remote | On-site (inferred) |
| Employment | Not stated |
| Level | Not stated |
| Salary | Not stated by the employer |
| Posted | 1 Apr 2026 |
| Last verified | 3 Aug 2026 |
| Source | Employer ATS (greenhouse) |
Description
At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. Vast is developing next-generation space stations 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. Using an incremental, hardware-rich and low-cost approach, Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station. 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, followed by additional Haven modules to enable permanent human presence by 2030. 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. 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 fas