Vehicle Mechanisms Engineer (Long Beach)

At Relativity Space, we build 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. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation.

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.

About the Team

The Structures and Mechanisms team is responsible for the full design, build, and test lifecycle of Terran R's integrated structures and flight mechanisms. Whether you're working on highly iterative mechanisms that move or tight-margin structures that shouldn't, you'll get hands-on hardware ownership and see the rocket coming to life on the factory floor. Both teams fall under one department, sharing design principles, tools, and an integrated approach that provides a comprehensive view of Terran R. Team members work on multiple parts, not just within a single subsystem, and are empowered to make decisions that directly impact flight hardware. Beyond first flight, you'll play a critical role in refining for manufacturability and speed.

About the Role

To support our mission of changing the way rockets are built and flown, you will guide the design of Terran R mechanisms such as stage separation, payload deployment, aero control features, and landing gear. To be successful, you will work collaboratively with partner groups such as structures, avionics, and fluids, and leverage our additive process and design freedom to design and build better products. The scope of work encompasses a full design cycle, including conceptualization, trade studies, design, analysis, manufacturing, and testing of components.

Here are some examples of projects you could be working on:

• Design and test the Terran R stage separation or fairing deployment system
• Innovative conceptualization of the Terran R landing gear or aero surfaces actuation
• Definition of design criteria and subsystem requirements
• Review of static and dynamic load inputs, material properties, and manufacturing processes
• Conduct trade studies on different mechanism design concepts and present to leadership

Your mission will be to deliver on time and budget. You will be challenged to integrate as many subsystems within our printed primary structure and support the development of our additive process to make this a reality. To achieve this, you will work closely with our vehicle design, test, and loads teams, as well as our additive and manufacturing teams.

In order to be successful in this role, you should be self-motivated, thrive in ambiguity, and be able to lead your own projects to completion. Ideally, you have come from a fast-paced environment, having completed difficult projects with extreme ownership while collaborating effectively with other key groups.

About You

• Undergraduate degree in engineering or related field
• 0-2+ years of experience in a full-cycle design engineering role, including CAD, analysis, build, and test
• Fundamental knowledge of kinematic synthesis, pneumatic/hydraulic actuation, mechatronics, and instrumentation
• Fundamental knowledge of structures strength, stability, and fatigue failure modes
• Technical problem-solving, manufacturing processing, materials, surface treatments, and hands-on hardware build experience
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills to lead discussions on complex technical topics

Hiring Timeline: We are actively hiring for immediate openings. Candidates should have completed their degree requirements and be available to begin full-time employment within 30-60 days of applying. If your availability falls outside this window, we encourage you to return and apply when you are within 30-60 days of being available to start full-time employment.

Nice to Haves (Not Required)

• Experience with launch vehicle mechanisms and multi-body dynamics analysis
• Experience in a demanding fast-paced development environment
• Proficiency with design engineering tools such as NX, Teamcenter, Ansys, or Femap, as well as engineering scripting languages such as Python or MATLAB
• Hands-on experience with fabrication/prototyping such as machining, 3D printing, welding, or woodworking