Senior Manager of Vehicle Integration Engineering

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 Vehicle Manufacturing team at Relativity Space is currently deep in laying the manufacturing groundwork and process development for Terran R, our next generation, re-useable 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. The core of this team is interfacing with the vehicle engineering team to heavily influence the design of the rocket to make the worlds-first mass produced rocket. 

Overall, this team is critical to the enabling development and initial builds of Terran R. This team pulls together the efforts of design, supply chain, production and manufacturing teams to deliver flight-ready vehicles for test and launch. To meet our goals, we will drive the product from design concept through initial builds to structural acceptance test, and then final integration, ensuring the team can move fast while still producing high quality, well understood products. 

About the Role: 

As the Senior Manager of the Vehicle Integration Engineering team, you will lead a group of talented engineers responsible for collaborating with vehicle design and test teams to produce the integrated stage assemblies in our Long Beach production facility. Your primary responsibility will be to ensure efficient and effective manufacturing processes across various stages of product development in the Integration production work center. In this role, you will advocate for scalable manufacturing during product design trades and reviews, ensuring that manufacturing considerations are integrated early in the design process. You will oversee build flow planning to optimize production efficiency and manage large-scale assembly logistics to ensure timely delivery of components. Additionally, you will be responsible for overseeing tooling design, from conceptualization to sourcing, to support the vehicle integration process, as well as Integration and Test (I&T) asset management and test execution. You will lead efforts in fast-paced issue dispositions, swiftly resolving any integration related issues that may arise. 

Explicit duties to include: 

• Develop a comprehensive build and test flow strategy to ensure efficient and high-quality production processes that can scale over time.  
• Lead the various assembly’s inaugural build and test effort, overseeing design integration, sequencing of assembly processes, development of manufacturing bills of materials (mBOM), creation of build and test work orders, and authoring specifications to ensure seamless integration onto the launch vehicle.  
• Establish the various assembly’s initial work cell by strategically considering assembly operations, identifying tooling and capital equipment requirements, and setting rate targets to optimize production efficiency.  
• Provide hands-on support to the shop floor and production personnel, promptly addressing any issues that arise and offering upstream feedback to drive innovation in manufacturing technology.  
• Monitor the movement of large-scale parts, ensuring safety protocols are followed and providing clear and concise direction to personnel involved in handling and transporting components.  
• Foster strong collaborative relationships with Engineering and Factory Development teams, facilitating effective communication and coordination to ensure alignment with company objectives and successful execution of manufacturing processes. 

• Develop a strategic plan to grow and foster a skilled team capable of supporting full-scale production, including identifying staffing needs, recruiting top talent, providing training and mentorship, and building a culture of continuous improvement and excellence in manufacturing operations. 

About You:  

• Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace, mechanical, or manufacturing engineering required.  
• 8+ years of experience in overseeing the building and testing of hardware within a manufacturing environment.  
• 3+ years of experience in managing and growing engineering teams.  
• Expertise in building and testing complex assemblies at the system and sub-system level, including pneumatic and electrical test conducting. 
• Demonstrated proficiency in authoring comprehensive work instructions and test procedures for the assembly and testing of interdisciplinary mechanical, electrical, and fluid assemblies and able to mentor and train engineers to do the same. 
• Proven ability to effectively interface with design engineering, manufacturing, and production teams to ensure seamless collaboration and integration of processes.  
• Extensive track record of successfully managing a broad scope of responsibilities within manufacturing operations.  
• Strong demonstrated experience of Project Management principles. 

Nice to haves but not required:  

• Master of Science degree in aerospace, mechanical, or manufacturing or equivalent. 
• Experience working in new-space manufacturing environment. 
• Experience working directly with design engineering, manufacturing, and production teams on launch vehicle hardware. 
• Self-starter that has demonstrated the ability to define and own a process from scratch and roll out that process through adept communication to a diverse team.  
• New product introduction of an aerospace hardware system into a manufacturing, test, and production system with proven success.  
• Working knowledge of rocket subsystems including structures, mechanisms, high pressure gas systems, and avionics.  
• Working knowledge of typical manufacturing execution systems and quality management systems. 
• Experience with implementing AS9100 quality practices. 
• Experience with onboarding MES and ERP. 

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.