Lead Avionics Test Engineer

Relativity Space; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 151,000 - 227,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Generous PTO and sick leave

Parental leave

Learning and development stipend

Job summary

Relativity Space is building the Terran R and seeks an avionics test team lead to own automated test systems for production electronics. You will coach engineers and collaborate across hardware and software groups to ensure rapid, reliable validation of avionics components.

The role requires deep electronics testing expertise, leadership, and a track record of delivering functional test frameworks in development and production environments. On-site in Long Beach, CA.

Qualifications

• Strong hardware design and test experience in avionics or related fields.
• Experience leading engineers and establishing best practices.
• Ability to own complex automated test systems end-to-end.

Responsibilities

• Lead Avionics Test team in design and implementation of automated test assets.
• Collaborate with hardware/software teams to support Terran R production testing.
• Coach engineers in technical and non-technical best practices.

Skills

Electronics hardware

Automated test systems

Technical leadership

Electrical interfaces

Debugging

Education

Bachelor/Master/PhD in EE/CE/Aerospace

Tools

Altium Designer

Oscilloscopes

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 team is responsible for the full lifecycle of Terran R’s nervous system, designing, building, testing, installing, and operating the hardware that connects and controls every major electrical system on the vehicle and ground. The team’s structure intentionally combines avionics design, manufacturing, and test to enable rapid iteration and feedback loops. Engineers are deeply embedded into other functions within Relativity, working closely with propulsion, GNC, fluids, and stage engineering teams to ensure seamless integration and operation. Now is a unique time to join: you’ll get to help shape Terran R's fundamental avionics architecture and be given a high degree of ownership on components that will fly.

About the Role:

As a leader of a portion of the Avionics Test team, you will manage a team of test engineers owning the design, development and implementation of fully automated test systems supporting the production of Terran R electronics. You will work with cross-functional partner hardware and software design teams in support of creating manufacturing test assets to complete acceptance and qualification testing. A strong candidate for the role will have a deep technical background in electronics testing and will coach individual engineers in technical and non-technical best practices while fostering a culture of collaboration and high-performance.

About You:

• Undergraduate or graduate degree (BS/MS/PhD) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
• 5+ years of experience in electronics hardware development, integration, automation, and/or test
• Experience providing technical leadership, mentoring engineers, and establishing engineering best practices and standards
• Experience owning complex automated test system design for low-voltage electronics, including embedded controllers, flight computers, communication systems, navigation systems, and/or mixed-signal electronics
• Experience in strategic planning, design, development, debugging, deployment, and sustaining test systems in development and production environments
• Strong understanding of electrical interfaces and communication protocols such as Ethernet, CAN, RS-422/485, UART, SPI, and I2C
• Experience developing and executing functional, acceptance, and qualification test procedures for electronic hardware
• Experience with environmental and qualification testing, including vibration, thermal, shock, and EMI/EMC validation
• Experience troubleshooting complex hardware, software, and system-level integration issues using electrical test equipment such as oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, power supplies, electronic loads, and logic analyzers

Nice to haves, but not required:

• Experience with schematic capture and PCB design tools such as Altium Designer
• Experience with RF, telemetry, GPS/GNSS, inertial navigation, or other avionics communication and navigation systems
• Experience developing automated test software using Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, or similar programming environments
• Experience with data acquisition systems, instrumentation control, and automated test frameworks
• Experience transitioning electronic hardware from development and qualification into repeatable production acceptance testing

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:

$151,000 - $227,000 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.

Are you willing to work 5-days on-site at our HQ in Long Beach, CA 90807? If you are not local, we offer a relocation package.