Senior Vehicle Structures Engineer

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.

The scope of work encompasses a full design cycle, including conceptualization, design, analysis, manufacturing and testing for primary and secondary structures related to Thrust Structure, Propellant Tanks, Interstage or Fairing, to name a few. You will need to think creatively and leverage innovation to reduce mass, parts, processes and tooling required.

• Innovative conceptualization of structural load path, design for complex structures and adjacent system packaging
• Review of static & dynamic load inputs, material properties & test as well as structural systems & subsystems requirements
• Analysis and sizing of flight structures to ensure timely design reviews and drawing release
• Develop and support hardware test campaigns, including test integration, operation and result evaluation

In order to be successful in this role, you must be someone who is self‑motivated, adaptable and is able to lead your own projects to completion in a fast‑paced environment. Ideally, you have significant mechanical or structural design experience and a proven track record completing collaborative projects effectively.

On a weekly basis, you will be designing flight components for our upcoming Terran R vehicle using NX/Team Center, performing analysis using Nastran, ANSYS and/or hand calculations, creating and releasing drawings as well as supporting fabrication of your components. You will own your design from requirements to production. You will also use your strong organizational skills to properly document your work and present your recommendations when decisions are needed.

• 5+ years of experience in a design engineering role
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline
• Experience with industry‑standard CAD packages such as NX, Creo, or Solidworks
• Working knowledge of structural analysis (hand calculation, Finite Elements Methods and industry tools) and test
• 1+ years of experience working on structures strengths

• 5+ years of mechanical or structural design & analysis experience
• Experience with NX/Team Center
• Experience using Nastran and ANSYS
• Experience with GD&T and drafting

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.

$142,000 - $181,500 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.

Interested in building your career at Relativity Space? Join us and help shape the future of space travel.