Staff Materials & Processes Engineer, General Metallics

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 Materials & Processes team is responsible for the development, characterization, and inspection of materials across the Terran R launch vehicle. We specialize in rapid implementation of material systems through robust internal testing capabilities and first principles driven qualification approaches. We have recently made our first primary structure barrel, supported introduction of next generation powder additive alloys in the Aeon-R engine, and developed 100% in-cell NDE inspection capabilities for WAAM manufactured hardware.

About the Role:

• Serve as a responsible metallics M&P engineer for key Terran-R structures, mechanisms, fluid systems, and propulsion sub-systems
• Research, trade, and select conventional and novel materials and processes for various demanding applications
• Identify qualification criteria, test envelopes, and characterization campaigns
• Author, implement, and maintain M&P requirements, technical specifications, and engineering work standards
• Develop, control, and improve special processes
• Drive statistically-driven experimental design and process control initiatives

• Interface with:

  • Materials engineering staff to identify, define, and fill technology gaps
  • Laboratory staff to characterize materials and processes
  • Designers to drive materials selection, allowables development, and detailed analysis
  • Manufacturing engineering to control processes, troubleshoot issues and facilitate operations
  • Quality assurance to disposition non-conformances and implement RCCAs
  • Supply chain to specify vendor requirements, audit criteria, and process controls
  • Product engineering to perform failure analysis and root cause and corrective action campaigns
  • Leadership to elevate risks and overcome roadblocks

About You:

• Bachelor’s degree in materials science or engineering, or related field
• 8+ years of experience relevant to the competencies listed below that demonstrate a strong foundation of materials science and engineering principles
• A 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, and team growth and development
• (Leveling is flexible – please see other posting levels for expectations)

Nice to haves but not required:

• Experience in aerospace and launch vehicle structures, mechanisms, fluid systems, and propulsion applications
• A thorough understanding of aluminums, Ni-based superalloys, stainless steels, titaniums, and refractories
• Knowledge of property-process-performance-structure relationships between primary and secondary manufacturing technologies, such as:
  • Metallic additive processes (e.g. Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF), Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), Laser Powder Direct Energy Deposition (LP-DED), etc)
  • Metallic joining processes (e.g. fusion welding, friction stir welding, brazing, etc)
  • Metallic primary production processes (e.g. forgings, castings, conventional wrought product forms, etc)
  • Metallic secondary production processes (e.g. heat treatment, plating, conversion coatings, surface modification processes, etc)
• Familiarity with key M&P engineering disciplines, such as fracture mechanics, corrosion control, fluid compatibility, descriptive & inferential statistics, and failure analysis

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:$150,000—$194,000 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.