Senior Mechanical Engineer (Terran-R Structures)

Relativity Space; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 132,000 - 198,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and equity

Generous PTO and sick leave

Parental leave

Learning and development stipend

Job summary

Relativity Space in Long Beach seeks a design engineer to own the full design cycle for primary and secondary structures of Terran R. You will work with NX/TeamCenter, perform analyses with Nastran/ANSYS, and release drawings while supporting fabrication.

You’ll lead projects, ensure manufacturability, and collaborate across teams in a fast-paced environment. Ideal candidates have 5+ years in design, CAD proficiency, and hands-on structural experience.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in a design engineering role.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline.
• Experience with CAD packages such as NX, Creo or SolidWorks.
• Working knowledge of structural analysis and testing.
• 1+ years working on structural strengths.

Responsibilities

• Conceptualize structural load paths and complex structures.
• Review load inputs, materials properties and subsystem requirements.
• Analyze and size flight structures for design reviews.
• Develop hardware test campaigns and evaluate results.
• Support manufacturing process development.

Skills

Design engineering experience

Engineering degree

CAD packages NX Creo SolidWorks

Structural analysis knowledge

Experience on structures

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline

Tools

NX

Creo

SolidWorks

Nastran

ANSYS

TeamCenter

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.

About The Team

The Structures and Mechanisms team is responsible for the full design, build, and test lifecycle of Terran R’s integrated structures and flight mechanisms. Whether you're working on highly iterative mechanisms that move or tight‑margin structures that shouldn’t, you’ll get hands‑on hardware ownership and see the rocket coming to life on the factory floor. Both teams fall under one department, sharing design principles, tools, and an integrated approach that provides a comprehensive view of Terran R. Team members work on multiple parts, not just within a single subsystem, and are empowered to make decisions that directly impact flight hardware. Beyond first flight, you’ll play a critical role in refining for manufacturability and speed.

About The Role

The scope of work encompasses a full design cycle, including conceptualization, design, analysis, manufacturing and testing for primary and secondary structures related to Thrust Structure, Propellant Tanks, Interstage or Fairing, to name a few. You will need to think creatively and leverage innovation to reduce mass, parts, processes and tooling required.

Your responsibilities will include, but not be limited to the following:

• Innovative conceptualization of structural load path, design for complex structures and adjacent system packaging
• Review of static & dynamic load inputs, material properties & test as well as structural systems & subsystems requirements
• Analysis and sizing of flight structures to ensure timely design reviews and drawing release
• Develop and support hardware test campaigns, including test integration, operation and result evaluation
• Support manufacturing process development

In order to be successful in this role, you must be someone who is self‑motivated, adaptable and is able to lead your own projects to completion in a fast‑paced environment. Ideally, you have significant mechanical or structural design experience and a proven track record completing collaborative projects effectively.

On a weekly basis, you will be designing flight components for our upcoming Terran R vehicle using NX/TeamCenter, performing analysis using Nastran, ANSYS and/or hand calculations, creating and releasing drawings as well as supporting fabrication of your components. You will own your design from requirements to production. You will also use your strong organizational skills to properly document your work and present your recommendations when decisions are needed.

About You

• 5+ years of experience in a design engineering role
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline
• Experience with industry-standard CAD packages such as NX, Creo, or Solidworks
• Working knowledge of structural analysis (hand calculation, Finite Elements Methods and industry tools) and test
• 1+ years of experience working on structures strengths

Nice To Haves But Not Required

• 5+ years of mechanical or structural design & analysis experience
• Experience with NX/TeamCenter
• Experience using Nastran and ANSYS
• Experience with GD&T and drafting

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

$132,000—$198,000 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].