Senior Structures Engineer

Reposted Yesterday
Easy Apply
Be an Early Applicant
Long Beach, CA
In-Office
142K-182K Annually
Senior level
Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Building reusable rockets to empower science and exploration.
The Role
The Structures Responsible Engineer will design, develop, and verify spacecraft structures, ensuring they meet performance and reliability goals and manage fabrication and testing processes for flight-ready hardware.
Summary Generated by Built In

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. But that’s just the start. 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 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. Now is a unique moment in time where it’s early enough to leave your mark on the product, the process, and the culture, but far enough along that Terran R is tangible and picking up momentum. The most meaningful work of your career is waiting. Join us.

About the Team: 

The Interplanetary Program was established to expand access to scientific exploration across our solar system. Its mission is to make planetary research faster, more affordable, and more capable than ever before by rethinking how science missions are designed, built, and operated. The program aims to enable scientists to send instruments to distant worlds without decades of development or prohibitive costs. By creating a sustainable model for interplanetary exploration, we are transforming space science from an occasional event into a continuous process of discovery that accelerates knowledge, broadens participation, and inspires the next generation of explorers.

About the Role:

As a Senior Structures Engineer within the Interplanetary Program at Relativity Space, you will own the design, development, analysis, build, and verification of primary and secondary spacecraft structures, from concept through flight. You will be directly responsible for delivering flight-ready hardware that meets mission performance, reliability, and cost objectives. 

This position requires a highly motivated, hands-on engineer who thrives in ambiguity, can execute with autonomy, and is eager to take on end-to-end ownership, from early architecture and trade studies to prototype testing to final flight qualification. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

  • Lead the design, analysis, and development of spacecraft structures from concept through flight
  • Perform structural and dynamic analysis (FEA, hand calcs, margins, etc.) to validate designs across all mission phases 
  • Produce engineering drawings with required specifications for manufacturing 
  • Collaborate with all subsystems to ensure structural integrity and system-level integration. 
  • Manage fabrication and assembly of structural components, including supplier coordination, material procurement, and flight hardware acceptance testing
  • Design and execute environmental testing, load testing, and flight verification campaigns 


About You:

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical field
  • 5+ years of experience designing, analyzing, and delivering aerospace primary or secondary structures
  • Demonstrated ability to take structural systems from blank-sheet concept through qualification and flight
  • Proficiency in CAD and structural analysis tools  
  • Hands-on experience with metallic structural design, GD&T, drawing creation, integration, and testing
  • Strong communication skills and demonstrated success working cross-functionally in fast-paced environments

Nice to haves but not required:  

  • Direct technical experience with interplanetary spacecraft design 
  • Experience designing avionics enclosures 
  • Familiarity with NASA or other spaceflight structural design and verification standards 
  • Experience with spaceflight hardware environmental testing and qualification

 

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:
$142,000$181,500 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.

If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact us at [email protected].


Top Skills

Cad
Fea
Am I A Good Fit?
beta
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.

The Company
HQ: Long Beach, CA
2,200 Employees
Year Founded: 2016

What We Do

Relativity Space is on a mission to better connect humanity to space and the universe beyond our planet. Our medium-to-heavy lift reusable rocket, Terran R, will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. But that’s just the start. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyond the known.

Why Work With Us

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.

Gallery

Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery

Relativity Space Offices

OnSite Workspace

At Relativity Space, we are an office-first company. We believe our best work happens in person—where collaboration is faster, problem-solving is sharper, and ideas flow more freely.

Typical time on-site: None
Company Office Image
HQThe Wormhole
Company Office Image
Launch Complex 16
Company Office Image
NASA Stennis Space Center
Company Office Image
Kent, WA
Company Office Image
Washington, DC
Learn more

Similar Jobs

Relativity Space Logo Relativity Space

Manufacturing Engineer

Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Easy Apply
In-Office
Long Beach, CA, USA
2200 Employees
130K-166K Annually

Relativity Space Logo Relativity Space

Design Engineer

Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Easy Apply
In-Office
Long Beach, CA, USA
2200 Employees
132K-182K Annually

Relativity Space Logo Relativity Space

Manufacturing Engineer

Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Easy Apply
In-Office
Long Beach, CA, USA
2200 Employees
130K-166K Annually

Relativity Space Logo Relativity Space

Manufacturing Engineer

Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Easy Apply
In-Office
Long Beach, CA, USA
2200 Employees
130K-166K Annually

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account