Manufacturing Engineer II, TPS full_time

Company Overview:

At Relativity Space, we have two audacious goals: to build the next great commercial launch company with Terran R and to become America’s leading force in additive manufacturing innovation. Both contribute to our long-term vision of creating humanity’s industrial base on Mars, paving the way for interplanetary life to expand the possibilities of the human experience. This journey begins right here on Earth – where we design, build, and fly rockets to deliver customer payloads to orbit. Terran R, our medium-to-heavy lift reusable rocket, fulfills the growing demand for launch capacity, thanks to our iterative approach that accelerates design, testing, and development while minimizing costs. While our groundbreaking research and development in 3D printing pushes the boundaries of large-scale additive manufacturing.

Your journey with us is more than just a job – it’s an opportunity to shape the future of aerospace technology, additive manufacturing, and the human experience alongside a community of passionate, creative individuals. Join us on this extraordinary journey, as we work together to transform our vision into reality.

About the Team: 

The Manufacturing team at Relativity Space is currently deep in manufacturing trades and process development for Terran R, our next generation, reusable rocket. This team has a wide variety of responsibilities—from determining the most efficient factory floor layout, to developing and implementing complex tooling and processes, and even interfacing with the vehicle engineering team to heavily influence the design of the rocket. Unique to Relativity, you will get to work across many teams to iterate and support development of the vehicle program.

About the Role:

The Thermal Protection Systems Manufacturing team is responsible for working alongside the vehicle design and test teams to develop hardware that can survive all phases of flight including ascent, re-entry, landing, and reusability. The team is looking for a Manufacturing Engineer to own the following scope: advocate for scalable manufacturing in product design trades and reviews, build flow planning, large-scale part logistics, identifying tooling needs and guiding tooling designs, conceptualizing & sourcing, fast-paced issue dispositions, and assembly work planning and execution.

• Own the manufacture of Thermal Protection Systems from design release through successful installation onto the Terran R launch vehicle—lay out the build flow and work center to ensure an efficient, high-quality process capable of scaling production rate with time
• Drive several first build efforts through design integration, assembly sequencing, mBOM development, build work order creation, and specification authoring
• Establish the assembly’s inaugural work cell by considering assembly operations, tooling and capital equipment requirements, and rate targets
• Support the shop floor and production personnel through responsive issue resolution and provide upstream feedback as we innovate the next generation of manufacturing technology
• Monitor large scale part movements and ensure safety through clear and concise direction
• Develop strong working relationships with Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and external partners to ensure all company objectives can be met

About You:

• Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace, mechanical, or manufacturing engineering
• Minimum of 3 years of experience building and testing hardware in a manufacturing environment
• Extensive experience authoring build work instructions that comply with AS9100 or similar requirements
• Experience interfacing with design engineering, manufacturing, and production personnel
• Extensive experience managing large scope of ownership
• Expert in at least 2 of the following: adhesive bonding, soft goods manufacturing, machining, mechanical fastening and torqueing operations, trim and drill operations, composites manufacturing, critical lifting, tool design and fabrication, work center development

Nice to haves but not required:  

• MS degree in aerospace, mechanical, or manufacturing engineering
• New product introduction of an aerospace manufacturing product or process with proven success leading, executing, and managing projects in a fast-paced environment
• Experience building and fostering relationships with external partners to achieve goals
• Working knowledge of typical manufacturing execution systems and quality management systems

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.