Executive Recruiter at Vast

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 an Executive Recruiter, reporting to the Director, Talent Acquisition, to lead hiring for highly specialized and executive-level talent critical to the development of next-generation, human-rated space stations. This role is not only about filling roles—it is about architecting and executing thoughtful, scalable recruiting strategies that enable the company to build world-class technical leadership across engineering, manufacturing, and corporate domains. The Executive Recruiter will be a strategic problem solver and have a shared sense of urgency in identifying and filling critical leadership and niche talent gaps for our growing company. This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location. Responsibilities: • Partner closely with leadership to define, shape, and execute talent strategies for critical leadership roles across engineering, manufacturing, and corporate functions. • Design and implement structured, data-informed executive search strategies tailored to each role, including market mapping, target company development, and candidate engagement plans • Build and continuously refine scalable processes, frameworks, and best practices for executive recruiting, ensuring consistency, quality, and efficiency across searches • Own the end-to-end executive search lifecycle with a high degree of rigor and attention to detail, from role definition through close and onboarding • Act as a strategic advisor to stakeholders, providing market insights, talent intelligence, and calibrated guidance to inform hiring decisions and organizational design • Establish and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with senior leaders, embedding a “talent-first” mindset into business planning and execution • Deliver a high-touch, detail-oriented candidate experience that reflects the complexity and importance of the roles being filled • Collaborate with the broader Talent Acquisition team to elevate standards, share best practices, and drive continuous improvement across the function Minimum Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience • 8+ years of overall executive recruiting experience, ideally both in-house and at an executive search firm. Aerospace experience is a strong plus. • Proven ability to design and execute structured search strategies for complex, hard-to-fill roles in high-growth or technically sophisticated organizations Preferred Qualifications • Deep expertise in full lifecycle executive search, including intake, role scoping, market mapping, sourcing strategy, candidate development, and close • Strong track record of building and refining recruiting processes, frameworks, and systems that scale • Experience operating in complex, matrixed organizations as well as fast-paced startup environments • Ability to synthesize market data into actionable insights that influence hiring strategies and business decisions • Highly detail-oriented and methodical, with a disciplined, process-driven approach to execution • Strong ownership mindset with a focus on outcomes, accountability, and continuous improvement • Exceptional ability to build trust, influence senior stakeholders, and operate as a strategic partner Pay Range: California$138,000—$196,000 USDCOMPENSATION 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, generous paid time off; up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff and up to 10+ days of vacation for non-exempt staff with the ability to cash-out unused vacation annually, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks. We also take pride in offering exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee & onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals remaining free of charge, and lunch subsidized as part of Vast’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality meals for employees. U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. This status includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending. 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.