Lead, Engine Assembly Design Engineer

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 Propulsion team at Relativity is focused on developing and delivering highly performant and manufacturable engines for Terran R. Engineers are responsible for the entire lifecycle of their parts, from initial design through production to qualification and flight. The team fosters a culture of bottoms-up decision-making, free from technical gatekeeping, where ownership and accountability are key at all levels. But designing engines with a quarter million pounds of thrust is just the beginning. As the flight configuration enters qualification, the team is now exploring modifications for future engines, including thrust upgrades, new cycles, and design for mass production.

About the Role:

In this role, you will lead a team that is responsible for top-level ownership of Relativity's rocket engine assemblies and their various configurations. You and your team will:

• Own the overall layout and packaging of Aeon-R engines, in all of their different configurations (development, qualification, acceptance, first stage versus upper stage, etc.)
• Design and analyze final integration hardware, such as secondary structures, fluid manifolds, tubing, custom fittings, etc.
• Work closely with component and sub-system owners across the Propulsion department to drive towards an optimal engine design.
• Own and release top-level CAD models of the engine assembly.
• Track and report mass/mass projections of the Aeon-R engines.
• Own the Interface Control Diagram for Aeon-R engines, requiring close collaboration with vehicle and test stand partners.
• Champion configuration and change management for the Aeon-R engines.
• Partner closely with the Engine Integration engineers to successfully build and ship engines at rate.

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 and external to Propulsion Engineering is essential. To be successful in this role, you should be someone who thrives in ambiguity and knows how to lead and guide projects to completion. Along with these expectations comes the opportunity to have a significant impact on a fast-growing team and accelerate your professional growth in an environment that values ownership, learning, and thoughtful risk-taking.

About You:

• Bachelor’s degree in a science, engineering, technology, or mathematics field
• 5+ years of experience with fluid systems design and/or structural design
• Experience applying fluid, thermal, structural, and mechanical design fundamentals
• Experience with Computer Aided Design (CAD) software
• Experience in mentoring and demonstrated leadership skills
• Detail-oriented, organized, and able to follow through
• Demonstrated drive to deliver on ambitious schedules, especially if unconventional & creative solutions are necessary to do so

Nice to haves, but not required:

• Experience in leading high performing teams
• Working knowledge of engine subsystems such as combustion devices, turbomachinery, valves, integration hardware, etc.
• Experience with large CAD model management, change management, and configuration management
• Experience with Siemens NX, Teamcenter, and ANSYS workbench
• Familiarity with industry best practices and aerospace standards
• 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:

$136,000—$204,000 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.