Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Mechanisms

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 Mechanisms Manufacturing team at Relativity Space is currently in the design release and New Product Introduction phase for Terran R, our next generation, fully re-useable rocket. This team handles a broad range of responsibilities, collaborating closely with vehicle design, supply chain, test, production, and vehicle integration to develop electromechanical and pneumatic hardware that supports rocket reusability. This includes key components like landing legs mechanisms, grid fin actuators, pneumatic separation and release mechanisms, and linear and rotary electromechanical actuators. Additionally, the team is responsible for developing and designing intricate processes, tooling, training technicians, and optimizing factory floor layouts. Unique to Relativity, you will get to work across many teams to iterate and support development of the vehicle program. To be successful in this role, you need to be a self-starter that can thrive in ambiguity, identify problems and quickly resolve them, and provide definition to the previously undefined. You should have a commitment to quality, balance short-term and long-term solutions, and have the discipline required to achieve our objectives.

About the Role:

• Own major mechanized assemblies and their child components from design release through test and successful integration onto the Terran R launch vehicle—lay out the build and test flow to ensure an efficient, high-quality product flow capable of scaling with time.
• Drive the assembly’s build and test effort through design integration, part sourcing, assembly sequencing, mBOM development, build and test work order creation, and specification authoring.
• Support workcenter development by considering assembly and test operations, safety, tooling and capital equipment requirements, and company operational goals.
• Provide hands-on support to the shop floor and production personnel, promptly addressing any issues that arise and offering upstream feedback to drive design for manufacturability.
• Analyze and disposition recurring manufacturing discrepancies and lead multi-disciplinary teams on root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Foster a culture of critical thinking and imaginative problem-solving, constantly challenging the established norms in engineering and manufacturing, and pushing the boundaries to achieve efficient production throughout the workcenter. Mentor other manufacturing engineers, providing guidance to support technical and professional development.

About You:

• BS degree in aerospace, mechanical, or manufacturing engineering with 2+ years of experience building and testing hardware in a manufacturing environment.
• Extensive experience developing processes, authoring work instructions and/or test procedures to build and test interdisciplinary mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic assemblies.
• Experience interfacing with design engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, planning, and production personnel.
• Extensive experience leading, executing and managing large process and/or quality improvements with large scope of ownership.
• Ability to work autonomously with little supervision in a fast-paced and ambiguous environment.
• Knowledge in at least 2 of the following:
  • fastening and torquing operations, pneumatic and/or electromechanical assembly, electrical and/or pneumatic testing or functional checkouts, tooling design and fabrication, potting processes, grease plating processes, harness manufacturing, machining of complex products like gears.

Nice to haves but not required:

• New product introduction of an aerospace hardware system into a manufacturing, test, and production system with proven success. Along with transitioning products from prototype to high volume production. Understand the importance of assessing a situation and leveraging both short-term and long-term solutions.
• Working knowledge of rocket subsystems including structures, mechanisms, high pressure gas systems and/or avionics.
• Expert understanding of GD&T and drafting principles.
• Experience in capacity analyses, DFMEA/PFMEA, value stream mapping.

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:

$122,000—$182,000 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.