Principal Materials Engineer

Relativity Space•Long Beach, CA

About The Position

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. The Materials Discovery Lab is a small autonomous lab which works synergistically with the Materials Engineering department. The aim is to push the frontiers of extreme environment materials that enable short- and long-term missions of space exploration. The high-performance materials can also have broad impact on big technological challenges outside aerospace where material is the limit. Our mission is to combine the fundamental science and real world requirements through deep materials expertise which will lead to unique industry leading solutions. Some of the specific areas include: Provide new material solutions to enable upcoming Relativity Space missions, e.g. reusable thermal protection for Terran R Solve grand challenges that confront the space community, e.g. heatshields for Mars and Moon missions, reusable heatshield solutions for LEO missions Tackle strategic areas such as carbon and ceramics to bridge long standing gaps in the thermal protection of extreme of “the extremes” such as hypersonic leading edge and engine components You’ll be working with a small team of experienced and passionate builders who are laser focused on solving real world impactful problems. If you have the “can do” attitude and enjoy hands-on work, you’ll find the environment conducive to creative problem solving and enjoy the day-to-day fun of discovery. As a hands-on project manager with deep subject matter expertise, you will lead day-to-day operations of the materials discovery lab. You will plan, coordinate, and facilitate the implementation that supports rapid materials prototyping and testing. You will work closely with the principal investigator (PI) on project planning, experimental designs, data acquisition and analysis, as well as training and mentoring team members to efficiently execute various projects and tasks. Another major responsibility is to supervise the acquisition, setup, operation, troubleshooting and maintenance of equipment and instruments that support materials prototyping and testing.

Requirements

Bachelor or master’s degree in Materials Science, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a relevant field
10+ years hands-on experience in aerospace high temperature materials development and testing

Nice To Haves

Proficiency and hands on experience in thermal/chemical/mechanical testing
Analyzing and fabricating materials, Differential scanning calorimetry, Thermogravimetric analysis, Intron tensile testing, Laer Flash analysis, Dilatometry, Rheometry, FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Cryomilling, Power metallurgy, CVD/CVI operation
Experience in project management and mentoring/training junior team members

Responsibilities

lead day-to-day operations of the materials discovery lab
plan, coordinate, and facilitate the implementation that supports rapid materials prototyping and testing
work closely with the principal investigator (PI) on project planning, experimental designs, data acquisition and analysis, as well as training and mentoring team members to efficiently execute various projects and tasks
supervise the acquisition, setup, operation, troubleshooting and maintenance of equipment and instruments that support materials prototyping and testing