Lead Manufacturing Engineer

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 engine manufacturing department's mission is to produce high performing products & manufacturing systems by continuously innovating on cost, quality, and lead time. Through cross-functional collaboration, high levels of accountability, and a focus on safety we support the Terran R program. We are responsible for providing design feedback on new hardware iterations, developing new manufacturing methods and systems, and ultimately building engine and vehicle hardware for testing prior to our first launch. Our team's highlights from the last 6 months include the MDC of the first Aeon-R engine, completing thousands of hours of PBF printing, building and testing over 50 valves of 26 different iterations, and implementing large scale process improvements along the way.

About the Role: 

• Lead a team of dedicated manufacturing engineers through hardware development and production for Aeon-R turbopump assemblies
• Drive progress from early development to qualification and into high-rate production 
• Identify talent and grow the team through training and mentorship specific to turbopump hardware and lean manufacturing principles 
• Establish and continuously develop the production line, processes, and tools for building and testing turbopump assemblies
• Assist with developing the business tools and processes that will be used to manufacture the early development articles and into production 
• Work closely with cross-functional partners to continuously improve manufacturing productivity and reliability
• Develop and own production metrics across product lifecycle and drive improvements both tactically and strategically

About You:  

• Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace, mechanical, manufacturing engineering, or equivalent
• 3+ years of experience building and testing hardware in a manufacturing environment
• Experience authoring work instructions and/or test procedures to build and verify complex assemblies
• Experience interfacing with design engineering, manufacturing, and production personnel to produce complex assemblies
• 1+ years of experience in leading others
• Experience in leading, executing, and managing projects in a fast-paced environment
• Experience applying knowledge of tooling development as a manufacturing representative

Nice to haves but not required:  

• Experience working under a fast-paced startup
• 1+ years of leadership experience leading other leaders
• Extensive experience with turbomachinery design, manufacturing, or test
• Experience with rotor balancing
• Experience in scaling from development to production environment
• Experience building strong relationships with technicians and production environment

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.