Manager, Propulsion Development Engineering

About the Team:

The propulsion team at Relativity is responsible for the successful development of the engines that will power the Terran R vehicle. We own their design from concept through to launch and reuse. Our team partners heavily with manufacturing, test, launch, and integration teams, striving to develop our engines in record time and to support Terran R's first launch in 2026. As part of this team, you will help build, test, and iterate on the full product lifecycle of our Aeon-R engine systems, seeing them mature and eventually bring Terran R into space.

About the Role:

This role may span several areas of our team depending on your skillset and the team's needs at the time. The core technical responsibilities of the role & of your team are driving engine system (architecture + CONOPS) trades, managing engine interfaces & negotiating requirements to optimize for the vehicle, and supporting engine system development overall. You may additionally support engine system analysis and simulation, engine testing, tool development, and more. In engineering at the system level, you will be expected not just to coordinate & facilitate amongst other technical teams, but to bring your own deep technical acumen to bear on problems in this highly technical role - and to coach the folks on your team to do the same.

You will also lead a team of engineers with similar responsibilities as the above. This will require mentorship, project management, establishing priorities, communicating with leadership, providing technical guidance, and recruiting. Leaders at Relativity are expected to be both people leaders & highly technical - you will balance your time between effectively supporting your team's growth and success at Relativity and making direct technical contributions of your own. You will serve as a mentor to guide the team, but will also learn from peers & mentors of your own within propulsion & the broader company. And in addition to learning from each other, we all learn from the engine - Aeon R is a novel engine that's never been built before, and with every engine test it gives us new mysteries to solve and challenges to grow from.

In order to be successful in this role, you should be capable of leading collaborative projects to completion with minimal oversight and supporting your team in doing the same. You should also be a self-starter who is always looking for ways to improve yourself & your team, and learn more about the systems that interface with yours. You should be someone who cares deeply about the people on your team & is invested in their growth. Along with these high expectations comes the opportunity to have a significant influence on a fast-growing startup company and to make rapid professional gains in an environment that encourages growth and risk.

This role is full-time onsite at our factory in Long Beach, CA. This role requires an average of 15% travel to our test & launch sites and may occasionally require shifted schedules or weekend work for critical milestones.

About You:

• Bachelor's degree in a science, engineering, technology, or mathematics field
• 8+ years of relevant engineering experience in a complex system development and/or test environment, with a minimum of 2 years of direct experience with liquid-propellant rocket engines
• Experience leading teams
• Experience applying engineering fundamentals in fluid mechanics & thermodynamics

Nice to haves but not required:

• Working knowledge of fluid components such as valves and instrumentation
• Working knowledge of engine subsystems such as combustion devices and turbomachinery
• Demonstrated drive to deliver on ambitious schedules, even and especially if unconventional & creative solutions are necessary to do so
• Experience mentoring, managing complex interdisciplinary projects, supporting continuous improvement of the people around you, or participating in growing your team through hiring