Stage Development Engineer II, Vehicle Build

About the Team: 

The Systems Engineering team ensures that Terran R comes together as a cohesive, high-performing, and scalable system. Within the department, one team focuses on building tools and processes to manage requirements, track decisions, and identify and mitigate risk - enabling faster, more informed development across the program. Engineers work across domains to understand complex problems, identify solutions, and implement them – all with deep technical knowledge, not just documentation. The other team focuses on the vehicle itself, working across teams to ensure all subsystems of Terran R function together as intended, burning down technical risk, and driving informed decisions at every stage of the vehicle lifecycle. Engineers are empowered to lead high-impact efforts, from major test campaigns to console operations during launch, and are trusted to drive improvements across fluids, structures, avionics, and more. Regardless of which team you’re on, you’ll be part of a high-visibility, high-impact department at a pivotal moment in the program, where decisions made today on trades, architecture, and process will shape not just the first launch, but the long-term trajectory of Relativity.

About the Role:

The Vehicle Build team at Relativity Space is a small, dynamic group within the Vehicle Engineering organization, specializing in cross-functional vehicle development, designing for operability, defining Concept of Operations for downstream work centers, and determining vehicle verification activities. Our team acts as the engineering focal point throughout the vehicle's lifecycle, ensuring consistency in the vehicle build process. We manage upstream and downstream impacts, excel at addressing complex problems, and solving new build challenges. Our group solves for balance between performance, launch/build rate, and reliability. This involves determining requirements, verification events, tools, guidance, and processes, all with operability at the forefront. On this team, you'll collaborate with every function across the company to help design, build, test, fly, recover, and reuse Terran R. You will: 

• Balance technical, cost, and schedule constraints; weighing options, investigating scenarios, and proposing solutions
• Owning the scope of verification activities for Integration, test, and launch site checkouts
• Follow the vehicle through its life cycle to ensure consistency in quality and process
• Drive systems through qualification, acceptance, and hotfire test campaigns by writing/reviewing test objectives, test matrices, and test plans
• Enable manufacturing teams to scale by owning specific off-nominal work scope
• Ability to travel to our test & launch sites and may additionally require shifted schedules or weekend work for critical milestones

About You:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field and 2+ years of relevant experience
• Problem-solving skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Technical aptitude and basic understanding of all functional disciplines (Mechanical, Fluids, and Avionics)

Nice to haves but not required:  

• Graduate degree in engineering or related field
• Experience with aerospace ERP systems and writing technical planning
• Proven experience in design, manufacturing, assembly, and testing of complex aerospace systems
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to distill complex technical problems into simple concepts for a broader audience
• Leadership or coordination experience in a multidisciplinary engineering project and demonstrated ability to lead by influence and collaborate with technical owners