Staff Propulsion Engineer, Engine Base Heatshield

relativity

Long Beach, California · Long Beach · United States

Posted Jan 6, 2026

Other
Propulsion 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 Propulsion team at Relativity is focused on developing and delivering highly performant and manufacturable engines for Terran R. Engineers are responsible for the entire lifecycle of their parts, from initial design through production to qualification and flight. The team fosters a culture of bottoms-up decision-making, free from technical gatekeeping, where ownership and accountability are key at all levels. But designing engines with a quarter million pounds of thrust is just the beginning. As the flight configuration enters qualification, the team is now exploring modifications for future engines, including thrust upgrades, new cycles, and design for mass production.

About the Role:

The Propulsion Integrated Design team is seeking a Responsible Engineer to own the design, development, and test of Aeon-R heatshield components. The Aeon-R engines require robust Thermal Protection Systems (TPS)/heatshield hardware to withstand the extreme thermal environments and loads that result from entry, descent, and landing. In this role, you will be responsible for the design, analysis, integration, and iteration of structural heatshield hardware that is absolutely critical to enabling the survival (and re-use) of Aeon-R engines and Terran R first stages from launch through landing.

As a Responsible Engineer for Aeon-R heatshield hardware, you will:

Design, analyze, develop, test, and qualify heatshield hardware for multiple engine and flight configurations
Leverage development testing and flight data to continuously iterate upon hardware
Analyze and troubleshoot the post-flight conditions of your heatshield hardware to understand its suitability for reuse and to collect insights that drive future improvements
Partner closely with peer Responsible Engineers across Propulsion and Vehicle orgs to optimize the mechanical interfaces of your hardware
Collaborate heavily with manufacturing and supply chain to strategize and ramp designs from development to production
Collaborate heavily with integration to smoothly install your hardware to Aeon-R engines and the Terran R vehicle
Spend time out on the manufacturing floor to oversee your hardware through builds and to collect valuable feedback from technicians and manufacturing engineers

About You:

Bachelor’s degree in a science, engineering, technology, or mathematics field
8+ years of experience with the design of structural hardware and thermal protection systems
Experience applying fluid, thermal, structural, and mechanical design fundamentals
Experience with Computer Aided Design (CAD) software
Demonstrated experience with GD&T and mechanical drafting
Experience using Siemens NX, SOLIDWORKS, or similar CAD software
Excellent written and oral communication, especially translating technical concepts for non-technical audiences
Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere
Demonstrated drive to deliver on ambitious schedules, especially if unconventional & creative solutions are necessary to do so
Experience in mentoring junior engineers in the skills of design, drafting, analysis, production support, etc.

Nice to haves, but not required:

Experience in the design of propulsion components and systems, particularly hardware used in extreme thermal environments
Experience working on thermal protection systems/heatshields directly
Experience with all phases of the product lifecycle. From development to qualification to ramping component production and final integration
Experience with Siemens NX, Teamcenter, and ANSYS Workbench software, specifically
Familiarity with industry best practices and aerospace standards
Familiarity with aerospace standards (AS, NAS, SAE, etc.)

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:

$164,000—$246,000 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.