Senior Manager, Turbomachinery Engineering

Relativity Space; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 184,000 - 276,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary & equity

Generous PTO & sick leave

Learning & development stipend

Parental leave

Job summary

Relativity Space is seeking a Senior Manager of Turbomachinery Engineering in California. You will lead a large, multidisciplinary team responsible for the design, analysis, and development of turbomachinery products for Terran R.

You’ll shape how turbomachinery is designed, developed, and evaluated, setting roadmaps to accelerate progress. You’ll drive collaborative projects to completion with minimal oversight, mentor engineers, and push for innovative, scalable solutions in a fast-growing

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in science, engineering, technology, or math.
• 12+ years of engineering experience in a complex system environment.
• Experience leading high-performing teams and recruiting.
• Experience with turbomachinery development and fundamentals.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, analysis, and development of turbomachinery products.
• Set team/department roadmaps to support Terran R development.
• Drive collaboration across propulsion, manufacturing, software, and avionics teams.
• Mentor and grow engineers while delivering on ambitious schedules.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Turbomachinery experience

Fluid/thermal design

Structural design

Project management

Talent growth & recruitment

Cross-team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in science/engineering

Master’s or Doctorate degree

Tools

FEA tools

CFD tools

CAD software

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 Propulsion team at Relativity is focused on developing and delivering highly performant and manufacturable engines for Terran R. Engineers are responsible for the entire lifecycle of their parts, from initial design through production to qualification and flight. The team fosters a culture of bottoms-up decision-making, free from technical gatekeeping, where ownership and accountability are key at all levels. But designing engines with a quarter million pounds of thrust is just the beginning. As the flight configuration enters qualification, the team is now exploring modifications for future engines, including thrust upgrades, new cycles, and design for mass production.

About the Role:

As the Senior Manager of Turbomachinery Engineering, you will lead the team through the design, analysis, and development of all of Relativity’s turbomachinery products. This role will require managing a large team, spanning many highly technical disciplines. You will be responsible for shaping how turbomachinery is designed, developed, and evaluated at Relativity, setting team and department-wide roadmaps to support the development of Terran-R.

To be successful in this role, you should be capable of leading collaborative projects to completion with minimal oversight and supporting your team in doing the same. You should be a self-starter who is always looking for ways to improve yourself and your team, while also being willing to learn from both your peers and direct reports. You should be someone who cares deeply about the people on your team & is invested in their growth. Along with these high expectations comes the opportunity to have a significant influence on a fast-growing startup company and to make rapid professional gains in an environment that encourages growth and risk.

About You:

• Bachelor’s degree in a science, engineering, technology, or mathematics field
• 12+ years of relevant engineering experience in a complex system development environment
• Experience leading and developing a high-performing engineering team by driving technical excellence, fostering talent growth, managing performance, and leading recruitment efforts
• Experience with turbomachinery development
• Experience applying fluid, thermal, structural, and mechanical design fundamentals
• Demonstrated drive to deliver on ambitious schedules, even and especially if unconventional & creative solutions are necessary to do so

Nice to haves, but not required:

• Masters or doctorate degree in a relevant technical field
• Experience with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and associated commercial tools
• Experience with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and associated commercial tools
• Experience with computer aided design (CAD) software
• Experience designing and analyzing turbomachinery components including inducers, impellers, turbines, diffusers, bearings and seals, etc.
• Experience developing turbopumps for liquid propulsion rocket engines
• Experience working in a flight development program

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:

$184,000—$276,000 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.