Relativity Space

Lead, Propulsion Engineering

Long Beach, California, United States

$138-169k

Full Time

a minute ago

Back to jobs

Job description

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 propulsion team at Relativity is responsible for the successful development of the engines that will power the Terran R vehicle. We own their design from concept through to launch and reuse. Our team partners heavily with manufacturing, test, launch, and integration teams, striving to develop our engines in record time and to support Terran R's first launch in 2026. As part of this team, you will help build, test, and iterate on the full product lifecycle of our Aeon-R engine systems, seeing them mature and eventually bring Terran R into space.

About the Role:

You will lead a team that is responsible for the design and analysis of integration hardware, as well as overall engine layout and packaging. This role will require managing a small team, requiring strong mentorship, project management, establishing priorities, communicating with leadership, providing technical guidance, and recruiting. Close collaboration with stakeholders within Propulsion Engineering (Combustion Devices, Turbomachinery, and Components) and external to Propulsion Engineering (Stage, Test Stand, and Integration) is essential. Designs and packaging trades will be informed by both fluid and structural analytical and computational models. You will strategically leverage 3D printing, as well as traditional manufacturing methods, to dramatically reduce the cost, weight, and part count of Aeon-R. To be successful in this role, you should be someone who thrives in ambiguity and knows how to lead (and guide) projects to completion.

About You:

Bachelor’s degree in a science, engineering, technology, or mathematics field
Experience with fluid systems design and/or structural design
Experience in mentoring and demonstrated leadership skills
Experience with computer aided design software
Experience with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and commercial tools such as Ansys, Abaqus, or Nastran
Experience applying fluid, thermal, structural, and mechanical design fundamentals
Experience driving to deliver on ambitious schedules

Nice to haves but not required:

Experience in leading teams
Experience in the design of liquid propulsion components and systems
Experience with Siemens NX and Teamcenter, specifically
Experience with large CAD model management, change management, and configuration management
Familiarity with aerospace standards (AS, NAS, SAE, etc.)

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:

$138,000—$169,000 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.