Manufacturing Test Engineer II, Mechanisms
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 owns all process development, fabrication strategy, and production equipment for Terran R, our next generation, reusable rocket. This team has a wide variety of responsibilities – from factory floor layout, to developing complex tooling for novel processes, and interfacing with our vehicle engineering team to heavily influence design of the rocket. We leverage our deep expertise to translate engineering requirements into highly optimized production lines, working cross functionally to consistently enhance the vehicle program.
This team handles a broad range of responsibilities, collaborating closely with vehicle design, factory test and production to develop hardware that supports rocket reusability. This includes key components like landing legs, pneumatic separation and release mechanisms, and linear and rotary electromechanical actuators. Additionally, the team is responsible for optimizing factory floor layouts and designing and implementing intricate tooling and processes. Unique to Relativity, you will get to work across many teams to iterate and support development of the vehicle program. To be successful in this role, you need to be a self-starter that can thrive in ambiguity, identify problems and quickly resolve them, and provide definition to the previously undefined. You should have a commitment to quality and the discipline required to achieve it.
About the Role:
- Responsible for developing new test assets and processes and/or modifying existing ones across mechanical, electrical and pneumatic systems. This involves working closely with design and manufacturing partners to ensure the successful execution of mechanism production testing campaigns that are both efficient and scalable over time.
- Drive mechanism assembly’s test effort through design integration, test equipment/tooling sourcing or design, test sequencing, mBOM development, test work order creation, test training and specification authoring.
- Support workcenter development by considering assembly and test operations, safety, tooling and capital equipment requirements, and company operational goals.
- Provide hands-on support to the shop floor and production personnel, promptly addressing any test issues that arise and offering upstream feedback to drive design for manufacturability, testability or reparability.
- Analyze data to evaluate assembly performance and disposition recurring testing discrepancies and support multi-disciplinary teams on root cause analysis and corrective actions.
- Foster strong collaborative relationships with design, production, supply chain and quality assurance, facilitating effective communication and coordination to ensure alignment with company objectives and successful execution of manufacturing and test processes.
About You:
- BS degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing engineering or other related discipline with 3+ years of experience building and testing hardware in a manufacturing environment.
- Experience authoring test procedures to build and validate mechanical, electrical and pneumatic assemblies.
- Experience partnering with design engineering, manufacturing, and production personnel to execute test procedures and support test failure & anomaly investigations.
- Experience designing, managing and implementing new test systems and/or test improvements with large scope of ownership.
- Demonstrated knowledge of safety standards, common test hazards and appropriate mitigations.
- Experience with at least 2 of the following: electromechanical or pneumatic assembly, electrical or pneumatic functional checkouts, integrated testing, leak checking, sensor checkouts, high voltage systems (320V+), high pressure pneumatic systems.
Nice to haves but not required:
- A proactive self-starter with a proven track record of defining and implementing testing processes, driving execution across diverse teams, and successfully managing and delivering testing projects in fast-paced, production-driven environments.
- Working knowledge of rocket subsystems, including structures, mechanisms, high-pressure gas systems, and avionics, with experience in planning and conducting hazardous operations for aerospace hardware systems.
- Familiarity with industry test stands: e.g., SMC-S-016, MIL-STD-1540D, MIL-STD-810G.
- Experience with test automation, data acquisitions and control systems.
At Relativity Space, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation practices. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors.
Compensation is only one part of our total rewards package. Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, a generous PTO and sick leave policy, parental leave, an annual learning and development stipend, and more! To see some of the benefits & perks we offer, please visit here.
Hiring Range:
$112,000 - $143,000 USD
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.
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