New

Manufacturing Engineer I, Primary Structures

Long Beach, California

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 Stage Manufacturing team turns design into reality, owning the build of Terran R’s primary structures. This isn’t about turning the same bolt every day; it’s about building the systems to build the rocket. Engineers and technicians work side by side, with deep collaboration and real-time feedback, to shape how we build better and faster. With a manifest and a launch date, it’s up to the team to deliver on Terran R: solving challenges in real time, optimizing for scale, and constantly improving processes. As the vehicle evolves, so will the factory, with opportunities to apply automation, machine learning, and advanced technologies. What we build here sets the blueprint for the future of scaled launch.

About the Role:

  • Own a major primary structure assembly station for Terran R, as well as all associated flight parts and assembly processes, defining operational strategies and working to build upon existing methods  
  • Support the shop floor through live issue resolution and provide upstream feedback as we innovate the next generation of manufacturing technology  
  • Generate high quality work instructions, specifications, and best practices across multiple high-fidelity processes. Standardize processes where possible, and partner with production team to reduce takt time and increase throughput rates. Analyze and disposition manufacturing non-conformances and lead multi-disciplinary teams on root cause analysis and corrective actions.  
  • Generate build orders and schedules, and come up with creative ways to stay on track  
  • Support conceptual and detailed design of major tooling assemblies alongside tooling engineering. Support procurement, commissioning, and initial trial builds, ensuring tooling is delivered on time and with the right capabilities  
  • Provide Design for Manufacturing feedback to structures teams during the development phase and through the first prototype and flight builds.   

About You:

  • Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, manufacturing, aerospace, or other relevant engineering discipline with 1+ years of related experience (internship experience counts!)  
  • Experience with CAD software such as NX, and basic working knowledge of GD&T  
  • Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to interface with cross-functional teams, including explaining complex topics to non-technical audiences  
  • A self-starter who is detailed oriented and organized, able to manage large scope in a fast-paced environment  
  • Knowledge of vehicle structures, manufacturing and assembly processes, and mechanical components 
  • Ability to reason through complex problems and perform trade studies using first principles and engineering fundamentals to make informed decisions  

Nice to haves but not required:  

  • Experience with new process introduction in a manufacturing environment and/or building first article assemblies, especially in a startup environment  
  • Experience authoring work instructions to build structural assemblies 
  • Demonstrated success with improving takt time in a production process, and/or transitioning products from prototype to mass production  
  • Working level knowledge of at least 2 of the following:  
    • Welding (fusion or friction stir welding), machining, precision drilling, mechanical fastening and torquing, tool design and fabrication, NDT, subassembly build, 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:

$97,000 - $124,300 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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