Manager, Components Engineering (Valves)

Manager, Components Engineering (Valves)

Long Beach, California

At Relativity Space, we're building 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. But that's just the start. Achieving commercial success with Terran R will unlock new opportunities to advance science, exploration, and innovation, pioneering progress that reaches beyond the known.

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. Now is a unique moment in time where it's early enough to leave your mark on the product, the process, and the culture, but far enough along that Terran R is tangible and picking up momentum. The most meaningful work of your career is waiting. Join us.

About the Team:

The Components team is responsible for all fluid control devices across Terran R, from propulsion to stage systems, enabling a more integrated and informed design approach. Engineers own every aspect of multiple products and integrate with partner teams such as Propulsion, Avionics, and Stage Fluids to ensure their components function seamlessly within the scope of the broader vehicle. With design, manufacturing, and test assets co-located, you'll see firsthand how your designs perform and can iterate quickly based on real-world data. We're continuously advancing our products, including developing novel clean-sheet designs for upcoming vehicle and engine upgrades, while creatively improving existing designs to enhance performance, reliability, and manufacturability.

About the Role:

In this role, you will be responsible for a team of component design engineers. You will apply your leadership skills to create a vision and direction for the team. You will apply your own personal technical experience to guide the designs of every fluid control device on the rocket, and you will create strong working relationships with partner teams, including: Production, Test, and Stage and Propulsion Engineering. Some of the specific tasks you'll execute are:

• Manage a high-performing team of component design engineers aligned with program milestones
• Define, scope, and schedule required actions to deliver qualified components to the vehicle and engine integration teams
• Establish design requirements to allow for execution aligned with program goals
• To be successful in this role, you should be someone who thrives in ambiguity and be capable of leading highly technical and collaborative projects to completion with minimal oversight. Along with these high expectations, this position will involve recruiting, career development, and mentoring engineers
• Support your team members to execute engineering tasks such as:
• Design of novel cryogenic, pneumatic, proportional, and/or solenoid valves.
• Perform detailed structural and thermal fluids analysis
• Create and execute development and qualification test plans
• Partner with Manufacturing and Supply Chain teams to produce parts at rate

About You:

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering field
• 7+ years of experience in fluid control devices, valves and/or mechanisms design and analysis
• Proven leadership experience, demonstrated through mentoring, managing complex interdisciplinary projects, supporting continuous improvement of the people around you, and participating in growing your team through hiring
• Experience applying engineering fundamentals in thermodynamics, structures, fluids, and electronics
• Hands-on experience with fluids and structural development testing and manufacturing
• Experience in a high-volume manufacturing environment
• Experience with CAD software
• Experience with FEA and CFD
• Knowledgeable about GD&T

Nice to haves but not required:

• 5+ years relevant experience in a rocket development or test environment
• Experience with liquid propulsion engine component development and test
• Experience with the design and manufacturing process of valves, regulators, and actuators, motors, solenoids
• Experience with design and testing of cryogenic systems and components
• Exposure and knowledge in powder bed additive manufacturing

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.

Hiring Range: $160,000 - $220,000 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.

If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact us at View email address on click.appcast.io.