Manager, Manufacturing Quality and Materials

Relativity Space; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 224,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

PTO & sick leave

Parental leave

Learning stipend

Job summary

Relativity Space in Long Beach is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to lead a multidisciplinary team across Manufacturing, Quality and Materials & Process Engineering, delivering high-quality, conforming hardware.

You will translate customer and engineering requirements into robust, repeatable processes, drive process development and control, and partner with Program Management, Design, and Operations to ensure on-time product delivery and continuous improvement in a fast-moving aerospace

Qualifications

• 7+ years experience in complex manufacturing environments.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams with clear ownership and accountability.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing process development, process control, and process capability.
• Experience translating engineering, customer, and quality requirements into robust, repeatable manufacturing processes.
• Strong systems-thinking and problem-solving skills with ability to identify systemic issues and scale solutions.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams to drive technical decisions and on-time delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead a multidisciplinary team of Manufacturing, Quality and Materials & Process Engineers delivering high-quality, conforming products.
• Ensure team has capability, clarity, tools and ownership to meet product and customer requirements.
• Develop and implement end-to-end manufacturing processes with controls, documentation, inspection and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure processes, material performance and quality controls meet customer and quality requirements.
• Partner with Program Management, Design Engineering, Operations and other functions to support on-time product delivery.

Skills

Team leadership

Systems thinking

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science or related field

Job description

At Relativity Space, we’re building rockets to serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. OurTerran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launchcapacity. But that’s just the start. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock newopportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyondthe 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. Nowis a unique moment in time where it’s early enough to leave your mark on the product, the process, andthe culture, but far enough along that Terran R is tangible and picking up momentum. The mostmeaningful work of your career is waiting. Join us.

About the Team:

Relativity Space pioneered large-scale additive manufacturing with our Terran 1 rocket, the largest 3D-printed object to fly. Now a distinct business unit within Relativity, Horizon Manufacturing Technologies is advancing next-generation manufacturing for aerospace and beyond. The team operates at the frontier of manufacturing innovation, where creativity meets capability. This is an environment where cutting-edge R&D is put into production, industrializing advanced manufacturing capabilities to solve customer problems. As member of the Horizon’s Robotics Team, you’ll work alongside welders, data scientists, and material scientists, creating an end-to-end additive manufacturing platform that serves a wide variety of applications. From exploring new materials to unlocking faster print speeds, to designing complex, organic geometries that can’t be built any other way, it’s high-impact work that sets the foundation for the future of advanced manufacturing.

About the Role:

• Lead a multidisciplinary team of Manufacturing, Quality and Materials & Process Engineers building a culture of technical ownership, systemic problem-solving and accountability for delivering high-quality, conforming products.
• Ensure the team has the technical capability, clarity, tools and ownership necessary to make sound decisions and successfully execute against product and customer requirements.
• Lead the development and implementation of robust, end-to-end manufacturing processes that translate customer and engineering requirements into repeatable workflows with appropriate process controls, documentation, inspection, and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure manufacturing processes, material performance, and quality controls provide the technical confidence necessary to consistently deliver products that meet customer and quality requirements.
• Partner across Program Management, Design Engineering, Operations, and other functions to ensure technical decisions support success, on‑time product delivery

About You:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science, or a related technical field, with 7+ years experience in complex manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing multidisciplinary engineering teams, with the ability to establish clear ownership, accountability, and technical direction.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing process development, process control, process capability, qualification, and continuous improvement.
• Experience translating engineering, customer, and quality requirements into robust, repeatable manufacturing processes that consistently produce conforming hardware.
• Strong systems-thinking and problem-solving skills, with demonstrated ability to identify systemic issues, reduce process variation, and build scalable solutions rather than relying on reactive problem-solving.
• Ability to lead cross-functionally across Manufacturing, Quality, Materials, Design, Operations, and Program teams to drive technical decisions and deliver results.

Nice to haves but not required:

• Experience with additive manufacturing, welding, directed energy deposition, or other advanced manufacturing technologies.
• Experience with metallic materials, material characterization, mechanical testing, metallurgy, or process qualification.
• Experience developing manufacturing processes from early technology development through qualification and production.
• Experience with statistical process control, process capability analysis, PFMEA, control plans, and other manufacturing risk‑management methodologies.

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:

$150,000—$224,000 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].