Head of Avionics Manufacturing

InvestedintheMission; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 223,000 - 335,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous PTO

Sick leave

Parental leave

Learning stipend

Equity

Job summary

Relativity Space seeks a senior leader to own avionics manufacturing strategy across the Terran R program. You will build and lead an organization of manufacturing leaders and partner with executive teams to ensure capacity, readiness, and risk are aligned with program goals.

You’ll translate factory realities into forward-looking narratives for company-level decisions, guiding multi-year planning and cross-functional collaboration across engineering, supply chain, quality, and program

Qualifications

• 5+ years in progressive leadership roles leading manufacturing leaders/managers
• Proven track record owning complex electro-mechanical manufacturing and test operations
• Experience scaling a manufacturing org through volume ramp from development to high-rate production
• Ability to translate factory data into risk, timeline confidence, and resource recommendations
• Experience with PCBAs, wire harnesses, and integrated avionics units

Responsibilities

• Set multi-year strategy for avionics manufacturing in partnership with executives
• Build and lead a multi-layered organization of manufacturing leaders
• Own end-to-end manufacturing and test roadmap for avionics hardware
• Drive transition from development to high-rate production, improving yield and cycle time
• Align design, test, systems, and supply chain to ensure manufacturability and testability
• Champion automation and lean practices to improve throughput and traceability

Skills

Manufacturing leadership

Electro-mechanical manufacturing

Strategic planning

Data-driven decisions

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, or Manufacturing Engineering

Tools

Automation tools

Lean manufacturing

Production tooling

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 Avionics Manufacturing organization builds and tests the electronic systems that power, control, and connect every aspect of Terran R — from flight computers and sensors to wiring and integrated avionics assemblies. As we push toward first flight and beyond, this team sits at the intersection of hardware, software, and operations, and is transitioning from development into full-rate production while raising the bar on reliability, cycle time, and cross-program alignment.

About the Role

We’re looking for a senior leader to own the strategy, organization, and delivery of avionics manufacturing across the Terran R program. This is a step beyond running a production floor — you’ll define the multi-year manufacturing strategy for avionics hardware, build and lead an organization of manufacturing leaders (not just individual contributors), and be a primary voice in company-level conversations about production readiness, capacity, and risk.

You’ll partner directly with executive leadership across Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, and Program Management to ensure avionics manufacturing scales in step with the broader vehicle program — and you’ll be accountable for translating factory-floor reality into the kind of forward-looking, risk-adjusted narrative that shapes company-level decisions.

What You'll Own

Strategy & Organization

• Set the multi-year strategy for avionics manufacturing — capacity planning, make/buy decisions, automation roadmap, and organizational design — in direct partnership with VP/executive stakeholders
• Build, lead, and develop a multi-layered organization of manufacturing leaders spanning manufacturing engineering, functional/environmental test, and production operations
• Represent avionics manufacturing in company-wide program reviews, translating production data into risk exposure, timeline confidence, and resourcing recommendations for executive audiences

Delivery

• Own the end-to-end manufacturing and test roadmap for all avionics hardware — from process development and test infrastructure through full-rate production and vehicle integration readiness
• Drive the transition from development to high-rate production while improving reliability, reducing cycle time, and holding the line on yield and quality targets
• Set and hold your organization accountable to schedule, yield, and quality commitments, using data to surface risk early rather than after it becomes a program-level problem

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Drive alignment across design engineering, test engineering, systems engineering, vehicle integration, supply chain, and quality to ensure avionics hardware is manufacturable, testable, and deliverable at rate
• Champion automation, digital production tooling, and lean practices as strategic levers — not just floor-level fixes — to improve throughput and ensure traceability and compliance at scale
• Build the muscle for proactive escalation: surfacing anomalies and risks to leadership before they cascade, not after

About You

• 5+ years in progressive leadership roles — ideally with experience leading other manufacturing leaders/managers, not just individual contributors
• Proven track record owning complex electro-mechanical manufacturing and test operations at the organizational level — PCBAs, wire harnesses, integrated avionics units
• Demonstrated ability to operate at both altitudes: fluent enough in electronics manufacturing process (PCB assembly, conformal coating, potting, ESD protocols, wire harness fabrication) to make good calls fast, and strategic enough to set multi-year direction and influence executive decisions
• Experience building and scaling a manufacturing organization through a volume ramp — from development-rate to high-rate production
• A track record of leading through ambiguity and aggressive, shifting timelines, and communicating that reality clearly to executive stakeholders
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field

Nice to Have

• Experience with spaceflight avionics testing and standards (SMC-S-016, MIL-STD-810, RCC-319/324 or equivalents)
• Familiarity with electronics manufacturing standards (IPC-610, IPC-J-STD-001 Space Addendum, IPC/WHMA-A-620) and PCB line operations
• Experience standing up new production or test lines from scratch — equipment selection, layout, staffing, and process validation
• Lean/Six Sigma leadership experience applied at the organizational (not just line) level
• Experience with high-voltage lithium-ion battery assembly manufacturing

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

$223,000 — $335,000 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 [e-mail].

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.