New

Staff Technical Program Manager

Long Beach, California, United States

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 Vehicle Engineering organization at Relativity Space owns the Terran R launch vehicle across its full life cycle - from design through build, qualification, and flight - along with the analysis, software, CONOPs development, risk management, and customer-facing and regulatory activities needed to operate Terran R successfully.

About the Role:

  • We are seeking a Staff Technical Program Manager to manage cross-functional program execution across a product lifecycle from early design through to flight. We are looking for someone who is comfortable operating between the 10,000 ft. view of the program and zooming in to solve a critical bottleneck. In this role, they will collaborate with technical leaders, manufacturing and ops counterparts, and other program managers to ensure successful execution of top line business objectives, often translating ambiguous long-term ideas into a set of clear trade-offs and priorities. They will analyze problems and drive recommendations that balance the needs of technical teams and the business, anchoring back to data. They will actively own and manage schedules, identify & mitigate programmatic risk, and drive communication across functional teams. A strong desire to build agile, fit for purpose processes from scratch, get your hands dirty, and influence a wide range of technical and operational teams are foundational to success in this role.
Execution Strategy & Risk Management
  • Translate long-term business objectives and priorities into a clear execution plan for your area of ownership
  • Build and own the schedule, deriving it from real requirements, resources, and dependencies & ensuring alignment with key company milestones
  • Identify, assess, and mitigate risks associated with program execution, ensuring proactive resolution of issues coming down the pipeline
  • Identify resource gaps and coordinate cross-functional planning for resource allocation, including headcount, budget, and workspace needs
  • Develop ways of working and cadences between teams to ensure efficient execution, collaboration, and alignment
  • Communicate program updates, risks, and trade-offs to senior management and cross-functional stakeholders, grounded in data, deciphering signal from noise, and driving decision making when required
  • Identify and drive to resolve future programmatic risks, keeping line of sight to 12mo+ strategic initiatives that are critical for business milestones
Cross-Functional and Strategic Leadership
  • Collaborate with PMOs and department leaders to integrate workstream schedules into the program-level Integrated Master Schedule (IMS), and use the IMS to understand true program critical path, dependencies, and decision points
  • Work with functional partners to align priorities when there are competing needs. Drive improvements to department-level program management tooling to continually improve program efficiency and operational excellence
  • Coordinate efforts across key bodies of work over development lifecycle, including design release, engineering trades, handoffs between teams, and operational burndown ahead of key milestones. Incorporate new capabilities leveraging automation and AI, when available
  • Lead by influence and collaborate with technical owners (engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, test, and launch) to establish a plan & empower strong functional ownership
Process Improvement & Team Growth
  • Spearhead the creation and continual refinement of effective, lightweight program management processes, tools, and templates that improve efficiency and cross-team collaboration
  • Establish ways of working and ownership model to that ensure programmatic lessons learned are being incorporated each design, build, test, launch cycle
  • Build trust, credibility, and buy-in with functional team & program stakeholders to implement processes effectively
Goal Tracking & Reporting
  • Establish goals and metrics to monitor program performance and increase the predictability and efficiency of engineering work
  • Monitor and report on progress toward organizational goals, objectives, and milestones, presenting an objective and clear path forward
  • Facilitate strong communication within departments and across the program to ensure transparency in program status & maintain culture of high ownership

About You:

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering, science, mathematics, or a related field; aerospace, electrical, or mechanical engineering degree preferred
  • 7+ years leading a complex program. This can include work in a program management role or a technical role where you were leading a large
    complex technical hardware program. Experience spanning software and operations preferred
  • Demonstrated success supporting cross-functional hardware teams from concept through delivery in fast-paced, high-ambiguity environments
    Able to move fluidly between tactical execution and big-picture perspective
  • Track record of solving ambiguous problems, developing processes and tools from scratch. Able to work scrappy whilst building sustainable longterm
    processes
  • Proven ability to communicate with highly technical teams and bridge communication between technical and non-technical audiences
  • A systems mindset: able to identify program dependencies, interfaces, and risks, and understand the impact of technical and program decisions
    on other teams and at the company level

Nice to haves but not required:  

  • Hands-on experience with launch vehicles, propulsion systems, or aerospace hardware
  • PMP, MBA, Master's in engineering, science, mathematics, or related field, or equivalent experience
  • Strong executive presence, with the ability to drive clarity and action across all levels of the company
  • Technical leadership experience, proven track record of success and strategic thinking while balancing conflicting priorities and goals

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:

$152,000 - $228,000 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.

If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact us at accommodations@relativityspace.com.

Please note: Relativity Space does not accept unsolicited resumes, candidate profiles, or referrals from recruitment agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited submission - via email, our website, social media, or directly to an employee - will be deemed the property of Relativity Space, and no fee will be owed absent a current, fully executed agreement with Talent Acquisition that specifically authorizes submissions for the applicable role.

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Relativity Space? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

How did you hear about us? *
Select...

As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”

The person hired will have access to information and items controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), and, therefore, must either be a “U.S. person” as defined by those regulations or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license. To assist Relativity in assessing its export compliance obligations in relation to your application, please identify which statement best applies to you:

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Relativity Space’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 07/31/2029

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.