Spacecraft Systems Responsible Engineer

Posted 17 Hours Ago
Easy Apply
Be an Early Applicant
Long Beach, CA
In-Office
176K-226K Annually
Senior level
Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Building reusable rockets to empower science and exploration.
The Role
Oversee and integrate spacecraft systems for the Interplanetary Program, ensuring requirements and performance budgets are met through collaboration and program management.
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 Spacecraft Systems Responsible Engineer within the Interplanetary Program at Relativity Space, you will own the end-to-end definition, integration, and delivery of the spacecraft bus and its interaction with mission payloads. You will serve as the technical and programmatic focal point ensuring that spacecraft-level requirements, interfaces, and performance budgets (power, mass, thermal, comm, etc.) are properly defined, tracked, and met throughout the mission lifecycle.

You’ll collaborate across internal teams and with external spacecraft bus providers to ensure mission success, from design and procurement through integration, test, launch, and operations. This position blends systems engineering, vendor management, and hands-on mission execution, offering a high degree of ownership and impact.

About You:

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline
  • 7+ years of experience in spacecraft or satellite systems engineering, integration, or mission design
  • Proven ability to manage complex systems multiple vendors and customers
  • Strong understanding of spacecraft subsystems (power, thermal, comms, ADCS, propulsion, etc.) and their interdependencies
  • Experience leading cross-functional teams through integration and test, launch campaigns, or mission operations
  • Excellent communication, negotiation, and leadership skills with the ability to interface across technical and programmatic boundaries

Nice to haves but not required:  

  • Experience with end-to-end mission development, including payload-to-spacecraft integration
  • Familiarity with NASA or commercial spacecraft systems engineering processes in an applied / New-Space manner is a plus
  • Experience supporting launch and early operations of spacecraft missions
  • Prior work with deep-space or interplanetary spacecraft systems

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:
$176,000$225,500 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

Aerospace Engineering
Systems Engineering
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

Senior RF Engineer

Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Easy Apply
In-Office
Long Beach, CA, USA
2200 Employees
159K-204K Annually

Relativity Space Logo Relativity Space

Senior Avionics Responsible Engineer

Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Easy Apply
In-Office
Long Beach, CA, USA
2200 Employees
159K-204K Annually

Relativity Space Logo Relativity Space

Optical Communications System Responsible Engineer

Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Easy Apply
In-Office
Long Beach, CA, USA
2200 Employees
176K-226K Annually

Relativity Space Logo Relativity Space

Lead Avionics System Engineer

Aerospace • Hardware • Robotics • Software • Manufacturing
Easy Apply
In-Office
Long Beach, CA, USA
2200 Employees
176K-226K Annually

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account