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Salary: USD 150,000 - 226,000 / 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 Materials and NDE (Non-Destructive Evaluation) team plays a central role in enabling Terran R to fly, re-fly, and scale by developing, characterizing, and inspecting materials and processes across all vehicle parts—from welding and additive manufacturing to advanced composites. The team works at the intersection of innovation and execution, balancing performance and reliability with cost, quality, and schedule.
As Staff Materials & Processes Engineer for Avionics, you will be the cognizant M&P engineer for Terran-R avionics electrical and mechanical hardware. You will qualify avionics materials and processes for flight and reuse, develop and maintain technical specifications and engineering standards, and drive statistically-driven experimental design and process improvement campaigns.
Key responsibilities include:
- Serve as cognizant M&P engineer for avionics hardware qualification and reuse
- Develop, implement, and maintain technical specifications and engineering standards
- Drive experimental design and process improvement initiatives
- Interface with materials engineers to identify and fill critical technology gaps
- Collaborate with laboratory staff on materials and process characterization
- Support avionics responsible engineers across materials selection, design, analysis, qualification, failure analysis, flight, and reuse
- Work with process and manufacturing engineers to develop processes, troubleshoot issues, and enable cost and rate while maintaining performance
- Ensure subcontractor compliance and reliability with quality assurance and supply chain teams
- Participate in Relativity and customer Fracture Control Boards to achieve vehicle reuse
- Develop technical roadmaps and elevate risks to leadership
You will gain broad exposure across products, systems, and disciplines, driving key decisions across design, manufacturing, and operations. This is an opportunity to shape how Relativity designs and develops for reuse as the company moves toward first flight and beyond.
**Requirements:**
- Bachelor's degree in materials science or engineering, or related field
- 7+ years of relevant avionics materials and processes experience (leveling is flexible based on candidate background)
- Experience with general avionics M&P activities: material selection, process development, qualification, damage tolerance, inspections, risk assessments, and failure analysis
- Core commitment to accountability, collaboration, and execution
- Desire to establish and foster strong interdisciplinary relationships across the company
- Authentic, introspective, and inclusive mindset towards technical, interpersonal, team growth, and development
- Passion to work in a fast-paced, challenging environment on constantly iterating avionics products and processes
**Nice to haves:**
- Demonstrated ownership and impact with aerospace avionics products through the full part lifecycle (power systems, batteries, controllers, transceivers, antennas, sensors, harnesses)
- Expertise in printed circuit board assembly processes (solder paste printing, vapor phase reflow, underfill, staking, board wash, conformal coat)
- Expertise in avionics materials for structural (metallic alloys, structural polymers, gap-fill elastomers) and electronic (PCB laminates, conformal coatings, solder alloys, thermal interface, encapsulants) applications
- Hands-on familiarity with battery assembly materials and processes, including multi-material joinability (laser welding, friction stir welding, wire bonding) and automated dispensing of structural and thermal interface adhesives
- Knowledge of relevant industry standards (NASA, J-STD, IPC, SMC, TOR)
- Experience with statistical experimental design and data analysis
