Senior Structures Engineer Long Beach, California

Relativity; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 132,000 - 181,500; Full time

Job summary

A leading aerospace company in Long Beach, California is seeking a Senior Structures Engineer to lead the design and analysis of spacecraft structures. This role involves managing the end-to-end process from initial design to flight qualification, ensuring structural integrity and collaboration with cross-functional teams. Ideal candidates will have a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering and 5+ years of relevant experience. A competitive salary range of $132,000 - $181,500 is offered.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in aerospace primary or secondary structures.
• Demonstrated ability to take structures from concept through qualification.
• Strong communication skills in fast-paced environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, analysis, and development of spacecraft structures.
• Perform structural and dynamic analysis across mission phases.
• Produce engineering drawings for manufacturing.
• Collaborate with subsystems for structural integrity.
• Manage fabrication and assembly of structural components.
• Design and execute environmental testing and flight verification.

Skills

CAD proficiency

Structural analysis

Hands-on metallic design

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

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. 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 Interplanetary Sciences Program was established to expand access to scientific exploration across our solar system. Its mission is to make planetary research faster, more affordable, and more capable than ever before by rethinking how science missions are designed, built, and operated. The program aims to enable scientists to send instruments to distant worlds without decades of development or prohibitive costs, creating a sustainable model for interplanetary exploration that transforms space science from an occasional event into a continuous process of discovery.

About the Role

As a Senior Structures Engineer within the Interplanetary Sciences Program, you will own the design, development, analysis, build, and verification of primary and secondary spacecraft structures from concept through flight. You will be directly responsible for delivering flight‑ready hardware that meets mission performance, reliability, and cost objectives.

This position requires a highly motivated, hands‑on engineer who thrives in ambiguity, can execute with autonomy, and is eager to take on end‑to‑end ownership from early architecture and trade studies to prototype testing and final flight qualification.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the design, analysis, and development of spacecraft structures from concept through flight
• Perform structural and dynamic analysis (FEA, hand calculations, margins, etc.) to validate designs across all mission phases
• Produce engineering drawings with required specifications for manufacturing
• Collaborate with all subsystems to ensure structural integrity and system‑level integration
• Manage fabrication and assembly of structural components, including supplier coordination, material procurement, and flight hardware acceptance testing
• Design and execute environmental testing, load testing, and flight verification campaigns

About You

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical field
• 5+ years of experience designing, analyzing, and delivering aerospace primary or secondary structures
• Demonstrated ability to take structural systems from blank‑sheet concept through qualification and flight
• Proficiency in CAD and structural analysis tools
• Hands‑on experience with metallic structural design, GD&T, drawing creation, integration, and testing
• Strong communication skills and demonstrated success working cross‑functionally in fast‑paced environments

Nice to have

• Direct technical experience with interplanetary spacecraft design
• Familiarity with NASA or other spaceflight structural design and verification standards
• Experience with spaceflight hardware environmental testing and qualification

Hiring Range: $132,000 - $181,500 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.