Senior Materials & Processes Engineer, Turbomachinery

relativity

Long Beach, California · Long Beach · United States

Posted Sep 26, 2025

Other
Materials and Non-Destructive Engineering

Job description

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 Materials and NDE (Non-Destructive Evaluation) team plays a central role in enabling Terran R to fly, re-fly, and scale: developing, characterizing, and inspecting materials and processes across all parts of the vehicle. 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 we move toward first flight and beyond, the challenges become more exciting, offering opportunities to shape how we design and develop for re-use. With ownership across products, systems, and disciplines, engineers gain broad exposure and drive key decisions across design, manufacturing, and operations.

About the Role:

Be the M&P owner of reusable Liquid Propulsion Turbomachinery Products, Materials Systems, and Disciplines
Qualify turbomachinery materials and products for flight + reuse
Develop, implement, and maintain technical specifications and engineering standards
Drive statistically-driven experimental design and process improvement campaigns
Interface with:

Materials engineering staff to identify, define, and fill critical turbomachinery technology gaps
Laboratory staff to characterize materials and processes
Design Engineers for product materials selection, allowables development, analysis, qualification, flight, and reuse
Manufacturing Engineers to reduce cost + rate while maintaining needed performance for turbomachinery products
Quality assurance to facilitate specification compliance validation
Propulsion Engineers to perform failure analysis, root cause and corrective action campaigns when turbomachinery parts fail in service
Relativity + Customer Fracture Control Boards to achieve vehicle reuse
Company Leadership to elevate risks and power through roadblocks

About You:

Bachelor’s degree in materials science or engineering, or related field
5+ years of relevant turbomachinery materials experience

Leveling is flexible and will be adjusted for candidates with more experience

Experience with general propulsion hardware M&P activities, such as material selection, qualification, damage tolerance, inspections, risk assessments, and failure analysis
Experience performing material and part qualifications for either AM laser powder bed fusion systems or traditional material forming (wrought, forgings, castings)
A core commitment to accountability, collaboration, and execution
A desire to establish and foster strong interdisciplinary relationships across the company
An authentic, introspective, and inclusive mindset towards technical, interpersonal, team growth, and development
Passion to work in a fast-paced and challenging environment on constantly iterating turbomachinery products + processes, driving big impact on critical program needs as we ramp manufacturing rate + achieve reuse

Nice to haves, but not required:

Deep understanding of turbomachinery within reusable aerospace or rocket engines and all associated materials challenges
Expertise in nickel, ferrous, aluminum, or titanium alloy systems
Metallic additive manufacturing M&P expertise with Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF)
Metallic wrought, forging, or casting M&P expertise
Metallic fusion welding M&P expertise in Laser Welding, EBW, GTAW, GMAW, etc.
Knowledge of surface modification processes and coatings relevant to inhibit surface damage + corrosion of reusable turbomachinery parts
Statistical experimental design and design allowable calculation methodology expertise

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:

$124,000—$186,000 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 accommodations@relativityspace.com.

Please note: Relativity Space does not accept unsolicited resumes, candidate profiles, or referrals from recruitment agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited submission - via email, our website, social media, or directly to an employee - will be deemed the property of Relativity Space, and no fee will be owed absent a current, fully executed agreement with Talent Acquisition that specifically authorizes submissions for the applicable role.