Materials & Processes Engineer I

Relativity Space•Long Beach, CA

8h•$90,000 - $136,000

About The Position

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 Terran-R products, engineering disciplines, and materials Qualify 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 materials & technology gaps Laboratory staff to characterize materials and processes Design Engineers for product materials selection, allowables development, analysis, qualification, flight, failure analysis, and reuse Manufacturing Engineers to reduce cost + rate while maintaining needed performance for products Quality assurance to facilitate specification compliance validation Relativity + Customer Fracture Control Boards to achieve vehicle reuse Company Leadership to elevate risks and power through roadblocks

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in materials science or engineering, or related field
1+ years of relevant materials engineering experience
Experience with general M&P activities, such as material selection, qualification, damage tolerance, inspections, risk assessments, and failure analysis
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 Terran-R products + processes, driving big impact on critical program needs as we ramp manufacturing rate + achieve reuse

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ownership, impact, and detail-oriented work with aerospace products and their materials and processes
Experience with M&P activities such as material selection, qualification, damage tolerance, corrosion, hardware inspections, risk assessments, non-destructive evaluation, fracture control, and failure analysis
Knowledge through hands-on experience of metallic special processes such as additive manufacturing, casting, forging, rolling, extrusions heat treating, welding, coatings, passivation, and refurbishment
Knowledge through hands-on experience with aerospace metallics (aluminum, steel, nickel, and titanium alloys) and non-metallics (structural composites, adhesives, sealants, TPS, coatings)
Experience with statistical experimental design and data analysis

Responsibilities

Be the M&P owner of reusable Terran-R products, engineering disciplines, and materials
Qualify 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 materials & technology gaps
Interface with Laboratory staff to characterize materials and processes
Interface with Design Engineers for product materials selection, allowables development, analysis, qualification, flight, failure analysis, and reuse
Interface with Manufacturing Engineers to reduce cost + rate while maintaining needed performance for products
Interface with Quality assurance to facilitate specification compliance validation
Interface with Relativity + Customer Fracture Control Boards to achieve vehicle reuse
Interface with Company Leadership to elevate risks and power through roadblocks