Manager, Manufacturing Quality and Materials

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

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Learning stipend

Job summary

Relativity Space in Long Beach, CA seeks a Manager, Manufacturing Quality and Materials to lead a multidisciplinary team of Manufacturing, Quality and Materials & Process Engineers. You will drive end-to-end manufacturing processes and ensure product quality, with a focus on process controls and documentation.

The role requires 7+ years in complex manufacturing, strong leadership, and collaboration across functions to deliver conforming hardware.

Qualifications

• Led and developed multidisciplinary engineering teams with clear ownership and direction.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing process development, control and qualification.
• Experience translating engineering, customer, and quality requirements into repeatable processes.
• Proven ability to reduce process variation and build scalable solutions.
• Experience with additive manufacturing or advanced manufacturing is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead a multidisciplinary team of Manufacturing, Quality and Materials & Process Engineers.
• Develop and implement end-to-end manufacturing processes with controls and documentation.
• Ensure product quality and conformity to customer requirements.
• Collaborate across functions to support on-time product delivery.
• Mentor teams and drive continuous improvement.

Skills

Leadership

Multidisciplinary teams

Manufacturing expertise

Quality engineering

Materials science

Process engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related

Tools

SPC

PFMEA

Control plans

Process qualification

Job description

Manager, Manufacturing Quality and Materials

• Long Beach, CA

$150k – $224k

Lead a multidisciplinary team of Manufacturing, Quality and Materials & Process Engineers for aerospace additive manufacturing.

Why it is interesting.

Work at the frontier of large-scale additive manufacturing for aerospace.

Might not be for you.

Requires 7+ years in complex manufacturing and team leadership; not an entry-level or hands‑on lab role.

Manages people Senior hires only
Adjacent materials roleExperience with metallic materials, material characterization, mechanical testing, metallurgy, or process qualification
Seniority Manager
Work On‑site
Type Full‑time
Degree BS
Experience 7+ yrs
Industry Aerospace
Role Management / Director
Materials

Benefits

equityannual learning and development stipend

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

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] . Please note: Relativity Space does not accept unsolicited resumes, candidate profiles, or referrals from recruitment agencies or search firms.