Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Mechanisms

Company Overview:  

At Relativity Space, we have two audacious goals: to build the next great commercial launch company with Terran R and to become America's leading force in additive manufacturing innovation. Both contribute to our long-term vision of creating humanity’s industrial base on Mars, paving the way for interplanetary life to expand the possibilities of the human experience. This journey begins right here on Earth – where we design, build, and fly rockets to deliver customer payloads to orbit. Terran R, our medium-to-heavy lift reusable rocket, fulfills the growing demand for launch capacity, thanks to our iterative approach that accelerates design, testing, and development while minimizing costs. While our groundbreaking research and development in 3D printing pushes the boundaries of large-scale additive manufacturing.

Your journey with us is more than just a job – it’s an opportunity to shape the future of aerospace technology, additive manufacturing, and the human experience alongside a community of passionate, creative individuals. Join us on this extraordinary journey, as we work together to transform our vision into reality.

About the Team:  

The Manufacturing team at Relativity Space is currently in the design release and New Product Introduction phase for Terran R, our next generation, fully re-useable rocket. This team has a wide variety of responsibilities—from determining the most efficient factory floor layout, to developing and implementing complex tooling and processes, and even interfacing with the vehicle engineering team to heavily influence the design of the rocket.  

Overall, this team is critical to the development and initial builds of Terran R. To meet its goals, the team will drive products from design concept, through prototype and initial builds, through functional acceptance testing, and ensure successful integration onto the Terran R vehicle. The team will also establish the manufacturing and business practices and processes necessary to move fast while still producing high quality, well understood products. 

About the Role:

The Mechanisms and Subassemblies Manufacturing team is responsible for working alongside the vehicle design and test teams to develop hardware that enables TerranR reusability, such as landing legs, separation and release mechanisms, and linear and rotary electromechanical actuators. The team is looking for a Manufacturing Engineer to own the following scope: advocate for scalable manufacturing in product design trades and reviews, build flow planning, large-scale part logistics, tooling design, conceptualizing & sourcing, fast-paced issue dispositions, and complex mechanical assembly work planning and execution. 

• Own a major mechanized subassembly and its child components from design release through test and successful integration onto the Terran R launch vehicle—lay out the build and test flow to ensure an efficient, high-quality product flow capable of scaling with time 
• Drive the assembly’s first build and test effort through design integration, assembly sequencing, mBOM development, build and test work order creation, and specification authoring 
• Establish the assembly’s inaugural work cell by considering assembly operations, tooling and capital equipment requirements, and rate targets  
• Support the shop floor and production personnel through responsive issue resolution and provide upstream feedback as we innovate the next generation of manufacturing technology 
• Monitor large scale part movements and ensure safety as well as clear and concise direction 
• Develop strong working relationships with both Engineering and Factory Development teams to ensure all company objectives can be met  

About You:

To be successful in this role, you hold a relevant engineering degree and have 3+ years of related experience, ideally in an aerospace or automotive manufacturing environment. You have demonstrated experience working cross-functionally to build large scope first article assemblies, resolve complex manufacturing issues, and meeting production demand. The ideal candidate has a strong mindset toward simple design solutions, quality, root cause analysis, and implementation of reliable and productive processes. You’re a tinkerer but also a self-starter who can balance and prioritize daily tasks that contribute to short- and long-term company goals. 

• Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace, mechanical, or manufacturing engineering. 
• Minimum of 4 years of experience building and testing hardware in a manufacturing environment. 
• Extensive experience authoring work instructions and/or test procedures to build and checkout interdisciplinary mechanical, electrical, and fluid assemblies. 
• Experience interfacing with design engineering, manufacturing, and production personnel. 
• Extensive experience managing large scope of ownership. 
• Expert in at least 2 of the following: machining, mechanical fastening and torqueing operations, electrical checkouts, integrated testing, mating operations, large scale part lifting, tool design and fab, subassembly build, etc. 

Nice to haves but not required:  

• Self-starter that has demonstrated the ability to define and own a process from scratch and roll out that process through adept communication to a diverse team.  
• New product introduction of an aerospace hardware system into a manufacturing, test, and production system with proven success 
• Working knowledge of rocket subsystems including structures, mechanisms, high pressure gas systems, and avionics. 
• Strong understanding GD&T and drafting principles. 
• Working knowledge of typical manufacturing execution systems and quality management systems. 

Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, a generous vacation policy, an annual L&D stipend and more! 

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.