Relativity Space

Sr Materials Characterization Engineer

Long Beach, California, United States

$133-171k

Full Time

3 hours ago

Back to jobs

Job description

At Relativity Space, we’re building rockets to serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Our Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. But that’s just the start. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyond the known.

Joining Relativity means becoming part of something where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level. Here, you're not just executing tasks; you're solving problems that haven’t been solved before, helping develop a rocket, a factory, and a business from the ground up. Whether you’re in propulsion, manufacturing, software, avionics, or a corporate function, you’ll collaborate across teams, shape decisions, and see your work come to life in record time. Relativity is a place where creativity and technical rigor go hand in hand, and your voice will help define the stories we’re writing together. Now is a unique moment in time where it’s early enough to leave your mark on the product, the process, and the culture, but far enough along that Terran R is tangible and picking up momentum. The most meaningful work of your career is waiting. Join us.

About the Team:

The Materials and NDE (Non-Destructive Evaluation) team plays a central role in enabling Terran R to fly, re-fly, and scale: developing, characterizing, and inspecting materials and processes across all parts of the vehicle. From welding and additive manufacturing to advanced composites, the team works at the intersection of innovation and execution, balancing performance and reliability with cost, quality, and schedule. As we move toward first flight and beyond, the challenges become more exciting, offering opportunities to shape how we design and develop for re-use. With ownership across products, systems, and disciplines, engineers gain broad exposure and drive key decisions across design, manufacturing, and operations.

About the Role:

Support key materials development and qualification efforts for Terran-R
Serve as materials characterization subject matter expert for activities related to mechanical testing
Work with team of skilled technicians, specialists and engineers to plan and execute materials testing projects and tasks.
Develop mechanical test methods/processes to expand our in-house testing capabilities and capacity. This includes managing any new hardware needed.
Communicate technical data to engineering customers and determine best practices for data output and reporting
Create and maintain documentation of processes and procedures for both equipment and test techniques

About You:

Bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering or related field
5+ years of experience related to materials characterization and testing
Knowledge of standard material test methods (static, fatigue, charpy, etc.)

Nice to haves but not required:

Expertise in ASTM standards for testing in mechanical, thermal, chemical, and/or metallurgical areas
Experience with aerospace materials including high strength aluminum, nickel alloys, copper alloys, titanium, refractories, polymers/adhesives, and/or composites
Master’s/PhD in material science or materials engineering, with specific studies and work in process improvements in testing, fixture design, and data analysis
Team player who likes to be hands-on and enjoys working in development lab environment

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:

$133,000—$170,500 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.