Sr Manufacturing Engineer, Structures Long Beach, California, United States

Relativity Space, Inc.; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 122,000 - 182,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Generous PTO & sick leave

Parental leave

Learning & development stipend

Job summary

Relativity Space, Inc. is seeking a Senior Manufacturing professional to own and optimize primary structure assembly work centers on the shop floor.

You will champion process improvements, collaborate with design, manufacturing, reliability, and vendors to push builds forward, and write standard work instructions for high‑fidelity processes from development through prototype and flight builds. You will bring a hands‑on history of complex assembly, strong fundamentals in mechanics and factory

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in manufacturing, aerospace, mechanical, or other engineering discipline.
• Senior: 5+ years related experience.
• Hands-on history supporting complex assembly builds and keeping production moving.
• Strong fundamentals in statics, mechanics of materials, process improvement and factory design, fastening and joining, and machining.
• Working knowledge of drilling and trim ops, tooling, inspection methods, and GD&T.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to feedback manufacturability inputs across engineering and manufacturing.
• Self-motivated, able to prioritize and execute in a high-pressure environment.

Responsibilities

• Own the shop floor for one or more primary structure assembly work centers, clearing barriers and keeping production moving.
• Champion process improvements across work centers, incorporating learnings from the first Terran R build.
• Partner with design, manufacturing, and reliability engineers, production teams, and outside vendors to drive builds forward.
• Write work instructions, specifications, and best practices for high-fidelity processes, and standardize them across the manufacturing team.
• Provide Design for Manufacturing feedback to structures teams from development through the first prototype and flight builds.

Skills

Shop floor leadership

Process improvement

Cross-functional collaboration

GD&T knowledge

Interpersonal skills

Self-motivation

Drilling & trim ops knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in manufacturing, aerospace, mechanical, or engineering

Tools

Drilling tools

Trim tooling

Inspection methods

Machining experience

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:

The Manufacturing team at Relativity Space is currently deep in manufacturing trades and process development for Terran R, our next generation, fully re-useable rocket. This team has a wide variety of responsibilities—from determining the most efficient factory floor layout, to developing and implementing complex tooling and processes, and even interfacing with the vehicle engineering team to heavily influence the design of the rocket. Unique to Relativity, you will get to work across many teams to iterate and support development of the vehicle program.

About the Role:

• Own the shop floor for one or more primary structure assembly work centers, clearing barriers and keeping production moving
• Champion process improvements across work centers, incorporating learnings from the first Terran R build
• Partner with design, manufacturing, and reliability engineers, production teams, and outside vendors to drive builds forward
• Write work instructions, specifications, and best practices for high-fidelity processes, and standardize them across the manufacturing team
• Provide Design for Manufacturing feedback to structures teams from development through the first prototype and flight builds

About You:

• Bachelor's degree in manufacturing, aerospace, mechanical, or another engineering discipline
• Senior: 5+ years related experience
• Hands‑on history supporting complex assembly builds, including making risk calls to disposition issues and keep production moving
• Strong fundamentals in statics, mechanics of materials, process improvement and factory design, fastening and joining, and machining
• Working knowledge of drilling and trim ops, tooling, inspection methods, and GD&T
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to work across engineering and manufacturing to understand process constraints and feed back manufacturability inputs
• Self‑motivated, able to prioritize and execute in a high‑pressure environment

Nice to have, but not required:

• Direct experience with drill, trim, and fastening operations on aerospace products
• New product introduction of an aerospace hardware system into manufacturing, test, and production, with proven success
• Project management experience in a fast‑paced environment

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:

$122,000 - $182,000 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.

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