Vehicle Simulation Engineer II Long Beach, California

Relativity; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 126,000 - 172,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity options

Generous PTO and sick leave

Annual learning and development stipend

Job summary

Relativity in Long Beach, California, is seeking an engineer to collaborate on the Terran R rocket design. The role involves integrating design data into simulations, developing software for optimizing trajectories, and leading design trade analyses.

The ideal candidate has a degree in Engineering or related fields and at least 1 year of experience in rocketry or complex hardware systems. Benefits include competitive salary, equity, and generous PTO.

Qualifications

• 1+ years of relevant full-time work experience with demonstrated ability to solve complex problems.
• Direct experience on rocketry, space systems, or equally complex hardware systems.
• Ability to complete projects with end-to-end ownership and high degree of independence.

Responsibilities

• Closely collaborate with design teams to integrate design data into simulations.
• Develop software tooling to optimize launch and orbital trajectories.
• Lead design trade analyses for critical decisions about vehicle and mission.

Skills

High-level programming languages (e.g. Python, Julia, MATLAB)

Complex simulation processes

Problem-solving from first principles

Education

Undergraduate or graduate degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics

Tools

Software development practices (e.g. Docker, CI/CD)

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.

Joining Relativity means becoming part of a company where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level. Here, you’ll solve problems that haven’t been solved before, helping to 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.

About the Team:

The Integrated Performance team owns the holistic view of how Terran R comes together, ensuring that every system on the vehicle and ground is capable of achieving our ambitious objectives. The team works across the full launch system, from trajectory design and aerodynamics to reliability analysis and beyond, with direct influence on all parts of the product lifecycle, from conceptual design to post‑flight data review. Beyond analysis, team members engage hands‑on with hardware and operations, with the mission and authority to drive meaningful programmatic change.

About the Role:

• Closely collaborate with key design teams to integrate the latest design data into full simulations of customer missions
• Develop and leverage software tooling to optimize launch and orbital trajectories across key customer missions
• Lead interdisciplinary design trade analyses to inform critical decisions about the vehicle, mission trajectories, and ConOps
• Define and maintain high‑level vehicle and trajectory design requirements to inform the overall design process
• Implement, maintain, and improve software tooling across a variety of languages, from core simulation capabilities to peripheral analysis utilities
• Establish and lead cross‑functional collaboration with key teams across Vehicle Engineering

About You:

• An undergraduate or graduate degree (BS/MS/PhD) in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a related field
• 1+ years of relevant full‑time work experience with demonstrated ability to solve complex problems from first principles
• Direct experience on rocketry, space systems, or equally complex hardware systems
• Strong proficiency in high‑level programming languages (e.g. Python, Julia, MATLAB) and setting up complex simulation processes
• Ability to complete projects with end‑to‑end ownership and a high degree of independence
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced and intense startup environment

Nice to haves but not required:

• Familiarity with launch vehicle trajectory design and optimization
• Have previously been a leading contributor on complex multi‑disciplinary engineering analysis projects
• Prior work in a startup environment
• Experience working with advanced software development practices such as Docker, Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD), and dependency management

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 and perks we offer, please visit our benefits page.

Hiring Range: $126,000 - $172,500 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.