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Salary: USD 132,000 - 198,000 / annual
Relativity Space is building rockets to serve today's needs and tomorrow's breakthroughs. The Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting growing demand for launch capacity. The company is developing a rocket, factory, and business from the ground up, with a culture emphasizing autonomy, ownership, and impact at every level.
The Propulsion team focuses on developing and delivering highly performant and manufacturable engines for Terran R. Engineers own the entire lifecycle of their parts, from initial design through production to qualification and flight. The team fosters bottoms-up decision-making and free-from-gatekeeping culture where ownership and accountability are key.
This role is on the Engine Systems & Test Team, which spans simulation and software tools, system-level architecture and requirements, component and integrated system hotfire testing, and more. You will collaborate closely with component engineers, manufacturing, the Stennis test team, and the Cape launch team to deliver engines that will successfully propel Terran to orbit.
As a Senior Propulsion Test Responsible Engineer, you will serve as the Responsible Engineer for propulsion test articles. Your work will include developing test plans in collaboration with product owners and executing test campaigns with the Stennis team, troubleshooting technical puzzles along the way. You will own the exploratory operation of new and existing test article designs, diving deep into evaluation of test hardware behavior in support of continuous engine development and certification.
The role is extremely varied day-to-day. In addition to overall campaign ownership, responsibilities can include writing test sequences, reviewing data, hands-on work with test articles, writing code, sitting console for hotfire tests, designing tooling, and more. Most test roles also involve systems work—you may support engine subsystem troubleshooting, partner team product investigations, engine system analysis and simulation, and trade studies. You will take ownership of projects of your creation to increase collective efficiency. As the vehicle development program progresses, you may have the opportunity to be involved in stage test and flight campaigns, including sitting console for launch operations, defining stage test objectives, and defining flight concepts of operations (CONOPS).
You should be a self-starter capable of leading collaborative projects to completion, always looking for ways to improve yourself and learn more about interfacing systems. You will leverage training and mentorship provided to grow as an engineer and individual. The role offers significant influence on a fast-growing startup and rapid professional gains in an environment that encourages growth and risk.
Work schedule: Full-time onsite in Long Beach, CA with an average of 25% travel to test and launch sites. This role may occasionally require weekend work for critical milestones and requires working shifted schedules (1st and 2nd shift) on a rotating basis.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 5+ years of experience in a complex engineering system development and/or test environment
- Bachelor's degree in a science, engineering, technology, or mathematics field
- Experience with applying engineering fundamentals in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics
- Experience with problem-solving and working in collaborative environments
- Demonstrated ability to execute high-ownership projects on ambitious schedules, especially if unconventional solutions are necessary
- Prior aerospace experience is not required; varied perspectives and backgrounds strengthen the team
NICE TO HAVES:
- Exposure to test operations environments
- Working knowledge of combustion devices, valves, heat exchangers, or instrumentation
