Cmf Design Manager Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Vast is looking for a Senior Color, Material, and Finish Designer, reporting to the Senior Manager, Industrial Design, to lead and own the development of optimized materials, colors, and details that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations.

You will be working closely with industrial designers, material engineers, soft good technicians and supply chain to define the experience of our astronauts onboard our space stations such as eating, sleeping, exercise and more via cutting edge materials. You will own every aspect of the CMF design process end-to-end. This includes spaceflight material heritage research, vendor collaboration, mood board creation and visual strategy, ground up material testing and development, and final material production.

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

Responsibilities: 

• Own and evolve the Color, Material, and Finish (CMF) design strategy for the space station experience, ensuring materials, colors, and details add value to the astronaut experience while meeting engineering requirements, certification standards, and human-rated safety criteria (e.g., flammability, off-gassing/toxicity, cleanability)
• Apply deep expertise in design specifications and manufacturing requirements to ideate, visualize, and develop color, material, and graphic design concepts for transportation/aerospace-grade products, with minimal oversight
• Lead cross-functional collaboration and negotiation with manufacturing, suppliers, and engineering throughout all phases of development, driving final CMF designs to production in support of Haven-1, Haven-2 and future program milestones
• Build and maintain a CMF materials library and design standards/guidelines that scale across current and future Vast programs
• Source, vet, and manage a network of vendors and fabricators, independently evaluating tradeoffs in cost, performance, and innovation
• Partner with outside test agencies to validate new and innovative materials against aerospace and human-rated requirements, owning the qualification process
• Present CMF strategy, rationale, and design direction to design and engineering leadership and cross-functional stakeholders, including at key program milestones
• Identify and proactively de-risk material and finish decisions that could impact program schedule, cost, or certification

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Transportation Design, Material Science, or equivalent experience
• 6+ years of related professional CMF design experience, including demonstrated ownership of CMF programs from concept through production
• Proven track record of leading CMF design strategy independently on complex, highly engineered products

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Prior CMF experience in aerospace, automotive, transportation, or other highly regulated/certified product environments; direct exposure to human-rated or spaceflight hardware standards a strong plus
• Demonstrated ability to build physical prototypes to express unique design concepts, and to lead others in doing the same
• Strong conceptual design skills - sketching, modeling, mock-ups, and visual storytelling - applied at a strategic as well as hands-on level
• Track record of driving ideation and concept generation under tight timelines and shifting priorities
• Advanced proficiency across relevant design software (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite, CAD/3D visualization tools) and general technical fluency across enterprise software
• Experience creating and managing RFPs, POs, and facilities work orders within an ERP system, including basic budget ownership
• Demonstrated experience mentoring or leading other designers, formally or informally
• Excellent judgment and ability to make sound decisions independently with limited or ambiguous information
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to present and defend design decisions to senior leadership, vendors, and cross-functional partners
• Logical, strategic approach to problem-solving, balanced with hands-on craft sensibility
• Ability to read and understand architectural/facilities floor plans
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple concurrent projects and adjusting quickly to abrupt shifts in strategic direction

Additional Requirements:

• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time
• Willingness to work overtime, or weekends to support critical mission milestones
• Ability to lift up to 25 lbs unassisted
• Specific certifications, as appropriate