Vehicle Structures Engineer I

Relativity Space; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 124,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous PTO and sick leave policy

Parental leave

Annual learning and development stipend

Job summary

Relativity Space in Long Beach, California is seeking a Design Engineer to innovate and analyze structural designs for aerospace applications. The successful candidate will integrate both creativity and technical knowledge while working closely with the Structures and Mechanisms team.

Applicants should possess a related Bachelor's degree and have experience with CAD software like NX or Solidworks. The salary range is from $90,000 to $124,500 USD, reflecting expertise and experience. Additional perks include PTO, parental leave, and an annual learning stipend.

Qualifications

• 0-2+ years of experience in a design engineering role.
• Working knowledge of structural analysis and test.
• Fundamental knowledge of structures' strength and fatigue failure mechanisms.

Responsibilities

• Innovative conceptualization of structural load path.
• Review of load inputs, material properties, and requirements.
• Analysis and sizing of flight structures.

Skills

Design engineering

Structural analysis

CAD software (NX, Creo, Solidworks)

Additive manufacturing

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related discipline

Tools

Nastran

ANSYS

Job description

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.

Responsibilities:

• 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.

About You:

• 0-2+ years of experience in a design engineering role.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related 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.
• Fundamental knowledge of structures strength, stability and fatigue failure mechanisms.
• Fundamental knowledge of additive and traditional manufacturing processes.
• Full life cycle project ownership experience.

Nice to haves but not required:

• Extensive experience with NX/TeamCenter.
• Expertise using Nastran and ANSYS.
• Experience with GD&T and drafting.

Compensation

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: $90,000 — $124,500 USD

Equal Opportunity

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].