Accounts Payable Manager

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 Accounts Payable Manager, reporting to the Controller, to assist our expanding finance organization in Long Beach. You will play a vital part in overseeing high-capacity invoice handling—with the department currently managing 4,000 monthly—while maintaining the precision of our Procure to Pay processes as we develop human-rated space stations.

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

• Own the end-to-end accounts payable process, including invoice intake, two-way matching, three-way matching, GL coding, approval workflows, payment execution (ACH, domestic and international wire transfers, and checks), vendor reconciliations, and aging management.

• Process all payments with exceptional accuracy, verifying banking instructions, supporting documentation, approvals, and payment details to ensure error-free execution, particularly for international wire transfers.

• Review invoices, purchase orders, contracts, and supporting documentation to identify discrepancies, ensure policy compliance, and maintain accurate financial records.

• Maintain the integrity of the accounts payable ledger through timely reconciliations, issue resolution, and support of month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close activities.

• Prepare audit-ready documentation and collaborate with external financial statement auditors to support efficient, accurate, and compliant audits.

• Partner with Procurement/Supply Chain, Engineering, Program Management, and other departments to resolve discrepancies and ensure accurate and timely payment processing.

• Lead, mentor, and develop the accounts payable team while fostering a culture of accountability, accuracy, continuous improvement, and attention to detail.

• Demonstrate exceptional reliability through consistent attendance, responsiveness to time-sensitive payment requests, and availability during critical business periods, including weekends and evening hours to support month-end close and audit activities.

• 5+ years of progressive accounts payable experience, including leadership or supervisory responsibilities.

• Strong knowledge of GAAP, accounts payable best practices, and internal controls.

• Experience processing domestic and international wire transfers with a high degree of accuracy.

• Experience supporting external financial statement audits and preparing audit-ready documentation.

• Proficiency with ERP systems (e.g., NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics) and advanced Microsoft Excel skills.

• Exceptional attention to detail, organizational skills,