Senior Build Reliability Engineer, Machine Shop

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 Reliability team at Relativity Space ensures quality is built into every stage of the Terran R design and production process, embedding reliability from the very beginning. The team works directly with design, manufacturing, test, and launch teams to stay close to the hardware, understand constraints, and proactively shape decisions. As the program moves from development into production and scaled operations, this is the time to establish the right processes, controls, and inspections without slowing progress. The team plays a key role in balancing risk, fostering a culture of ownership, and making sure speed never comes at the cost of reliability. Success means creating a quality system that scales with the Terran R program and Relativity as a whole.

About the Role

• Support design activities including drawing standardization, design for manufacturability (DFM), configuration management, and machining requirements to ensure hardware quality throughout production.
• Review work instructions, develop processes, and establish standard rework and repair documentation to support efficient and reliable machining operations.
• Oversee in-process build verification, dimensional inspections, machining operations, and coordination of traveled work to ensure quality standards are maintained throughout production.
• Manage nonconformance processes, as-built verification, root cause investigations, and corrective actions to resolve machining and manufacturing issues while minimizing impacts to production schedules.
• Drive initiatives to improve quality across machine shop operations, including developing specifications, establishing inspection plans, improving dimensional verification methods, and supporting inspection automation.
• Develop strong working relationships with Engineering, Manufacturing, Machine Shop Operations, and Inspection teams to identify risks, resolve technical challenges, and ensure successful production of precision-machined components.

About You

• Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering or another STEM field and a minimum of 5 years of experience as a Quality Engineer in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Extensive experience interfacing with design engineering, manufacturing, production, machining, and inspection personnel.
• In-depth knowledge of precision machining, CNC manufacturing processes, dimensional inspection, and associated quality processes and controls.
• Working knowledge of typical PLM, MES, ERP, and QMS software and proficiency with Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T).
• Ability to solve complex technical problems, evaluate alternative solutions, and coordinate across multiple teams to establish goals and drive projects to completion.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with demonstrated experience developing processes, driving first-time quality, and collaborating with technical teams and leadership.

Nice to haves but not required:  

• Working knowledge of product development methodologies such as Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), Statistical Process Control (SPC), and Production Process Verification (PPV).
• Experience with new product introduction (NPI), particularly transitioning precision-machined components from development into manufacturing and production environments.
• Familiarity with CNC machining processes, cutting tools, machining tolerances, and advanced dimensional inspection methods.
• Understanding of AS9100/ISO9001 applications and practices for an aerospace program.
• Self-starter who has demonstrated the ability to define, own, and implement processes from scratch while effectively communicating across diverse teams.

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.

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 accommodations@relativityspace.com.

Please note: Relativity Space does not accept unsolicited resumes, candidate profiles, or referrals from recruitment agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited submission - via email, our website, social media, or directly to an employee - will be deemed the property of Relativity Space, and no fee will be owed absent a current, fully executed agreement with Talent Acquisition that specifically authorizes submissions for the applicable role.