Staff Materials & Process Engineer

Relativity Space • Long Beach, CA

5d • $150,000 - $226,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

As a Staff Materials and Process Engineer on Relativity Space’s Awerx team, you will bring metallurgical and manufacturing-process expertise into design-for-manufacturing systems for aerospace hardware. You will translate knowledge of metal solidification, deformation, cracking, and machining into design rules, models, process windows, material models, and manufacturability checks used by agentic design tools. The role focuses on hybrid manufacturing, including multi-additive process routes such as sintered metal powder and wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), as well as additive-plus-subtractive workflows that pair deposition with CNC finishing.

You will develop guidance for directed energy deposition (including WAAM and other DED processes), CNC machining, and combined workflows. You will characterize how process routes affect microstructure, residual stress, defects, and properties in nickel superalloys, copper alloys, aluminum, and titanium, and develop materials and process datasets with clear provenance and uncertainty. The work includes hands-on validation in laboratory and shop environments, materials and process qualification of hybrid-manufactured hardware, and collaboration with software, design, production, materials, quality, and supplier teams to turn manufacturing knowledge and recurring failure modes into explicit tool constraints.

Awerx builds agentic design tools for aerospace, combining mechanical engineering and advanced manufacturing knowledge to help produce parts that are analyzable, buildable, qualifiable, and right the first time. The role requires onsite presence at least three days per week, with flexibility to work remotely when the work allows. Much of the work is hands-on alongside engineers and hardware.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years of materials and process engineering experience on aerospace or other high-reliability metal hardware.
• Expertise in physical metallurgy across nickel superalloys, copper alloys, aluminum, and titanium, including solidification, phase transformations, heat treatment, and defect formation.
• Hands-on experience developing or qualifying directed energy deposition processes (WAAM, laser DED, or electron-beam DED) and integrating them with CNC machining.
• Experience designing and running test programs, including coupons, metallography, NDE, and mechanical testing, and generating statistically based design allowables (A- and B-basis) to NAVSEA, MMPDS, or comparable requirements.
• Proficiency in Python or a similar language for data analysis and scripting.

Nice To Haves

• PhD in Materials Science, Metallurgy, or a related field.
• Experience with sintered-powder routes (binder jet, metal injection molding, press-and-sinter) or laser powder bed fusion, including multi-material or bimetallic interfaces such as copper-to-superalloy transitions.
• Experience with ICME, CALPHAD, or thermo-mechanical process simulation for additive manufacturing, or with CAM and deposition path planning.
• Experience qualifying additive parts for flight under NASA-STD-6030 or comparable standards, or applying machine learning to materials or process data.

Responsibilities

• Encode metallurgy and process expertise into Awerx design-for-manufacturing systems as design rules, process windows, material models, and manufacturability checks, including guidance for multi-additive builds, process interfaces, and deposition-to-machining handoffs.
• Develop process guidance for directed energy deposition (WAAM and other DED processes), CNC machining, and combined workflows, covering near-net-shape allowances, fixturing, distortion, and inspection access.
• Characterize how manufacturing routes affect microstructure, residual stress, defects, and properties in nickel superalloys, copper alloys, aluminum, and titanium; build materials and process datasets with clear provenance and uncertainty.
• Plan and conduct hands-on validation programs in laboratory and shop settings, including coupons, test articles, heat treatment, NDE, metallography, and mechanical testing, to validate or correct tool predictions.
• Lead materials and process qualification of hybrid-manufactured hardware, including qualification plans, process controls, and statistically based design allowables aligned with NAVSEA requirements and MMPDS methodology.
• Collaborate with software engineers, designers, Relativity production, materials, and quality teams, and outside suppliers to specify and review tool features and evaluate agent-generated designs and process plans.
• Convert tacit shop-floor knowledge and recurring failure modes into clear, explicit constraints.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity.
• Generous PTO and sick leave policy.
• Parental leave.
• Annual learning and development stipend.
• Additional benefits and perks; details are available via the company’s benefits information.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior