Vast, a trailblazer in space habitation technologies founded in 2021, is leading the charge to expand human presence across the solar system. As they work towards launching the world’s first commercial space station no earlier than the second half of 2025, the company is scaling rapidly, with an ambitious technical roadmap and tight timelines. The CEO, an entrepreneur known for scaling successful companies in aerospace, consumer electronics, and internet sectors, recognized the need for a highly specialized Chief of Staff to support their growing team.

To tackle these challenges, Vast engaged Vannin Chief of Staff to lead the search for their inaugural Chief of Staff hire. The role demanded experience in aerospace engineering, the ability to manage complex, high-growth organizations, and strong leadership through influence.

Vannin Chief of Staff deployed a strategic, nationwide search to identify a candidate with technical expertise in aerospace engineering and a proven record of leadership in fast-paced, high-growth environments. We focused on finding a candidate with high emotional intelligence (EQ), problem-solving abilities, and a capacity for cross-functional collaboration.

Key steps included:

Targeting professionals with both aerospace engineering backgrounds and strategic business operations experience.

• Coordinating across the c-suite at Vast (CEO, SVP of People, CLO, CTO, CIO) to ensure alignment on the role's scope and expectations.

• Conducting a national search that attracted hundreds of high-quality applicants and identifying the top 2% for final consideration.

• Assisting with negotiations to secure the final candidate, who accepted the offer and relocated from New York to Long Beach, CA, within three weeks.

Through a meticulous and targeted search, we successfully placed Lucie Ravelojaona, former Chief of Staff at Acubed and Universal Hydrogen. Lucie, an engineer by trade, brought over a decade of industry experience in aviation and a track record of scaling organizations.

The CoS quickly formed a strong partnership with Vast’s CEO, and together, they participated in Vannin Chief of Staff’s proprietary Accelerator Program to hasten trust and alignment between the pair to drive both short-term wins and maximize long-term success.

Her leadership has had a positive, measurable impact across the company, fostering cross-functional alignment and empowering teams to meet the company’s ambitious milestones.

Due to the success of this placement, Vast retained Vannin Chief of Staff to lead additional talent searches.