Senior Materials & Processes Engineer, Turbomachinery

Location: Long Beach, California

Department: Materials and Non-Destructive Engineering

About the Team:  

The Materials and NDE (Non-Destructive Evaluation) team plays a central role in enabling Terran R to fly, re-fly, and scale: developing, characterizing, and inspecting materials and processes across all parts of the vehicle. From welding and additive manufacturing to advanced composites, the team works at the intersection of innovation and execution, balancing performance and reliability with cost, quality, and schedule. As we move toward first flight and beyond, the challenges become more exciting, offering opportunities to shape how we design and develop for re-use. With ownership across products, systems, and disciplines, engineers gain broad exposure and drive key decisions across design, manufacturing, and operations.

About the Role: 

• Be the M&P owner of reusable Liquid Propulsion Turbomachinery Products, Materials Systems, and Disciplines
• Qualify turbomachinery materials and products for flight + reuse
• Develop, implement, and maintain technical specifications and engineering standards
• Drive statistically-driven experimental design and process improvement campaigns
• Interface with:
• Materials engineering staff to identify, define, and fill critical turbomachinery technology gaps
• Laboratory staff to characterize materials and processes
• Design Engineers for product materials selection, allowables development, analysis, qualification, flight, and reuse
• Manufacturing Engineers to reduce cost + rate while maintaining needed performance for turbomachinery products
• Quality assurance to facilitate specification compliance validation
• Propulsion Engineers to perform failure analysis, root cause and corrective action campaigns when turbomachinery parts fail in service
• Relativity + Customer Fracture Control Boards to achieve vehicle reuse
• Company Leadership to elevate risks and power through roadblocks

About You:  

• Bachelor’s degree in materials science or engineering, or related field
• 5+ years of relevant turbomachinery materials experience
• Leveling is flexible and will be adjusted for candidates with more experience
• Experience with general propulsion hardware M&P activities, such as material selection, qualification, damage tolerance, inspections, risk assessments, and failure analysis
• Experience performing material and part qualifications for either AM laser powder bed fusion systems or traditional material forming (wrought, forgings, castings)
• A core commitment to accountability, collaboration, and execution
• A desire to establish and foster strong interdisciplinary relationships across the company
• An authentic, introspective, and inclusive mindset towards technical, interpersonal, team growth, and development
• Passion to work in a fast-paced and challenging environment on constantly iterating turbomachinery products + processes, driving big impact on critical program needs as we ramp manufacturing rate + achieve reuse

Nice to haves, but not required:  

• Deep understanding of turbomachinery within reusable aerospace or rocket engines and all associated materials challenges
• Expertise in nickel, ferrous, aluminum, or titanium alloy systems
• Metallic additive manufacturing M&P expertise with Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF)
• Metallic wrought, forging, or casting M&P expertise
• Metallic fusion welding M&P expertise in Laser Welding, EBW, GTAW, GMAW, etc.
• Knowledge of surface modification processes and coatings relevant to inhibit surface damage + corrosion of reusable turbomachinery parts
• Statistical experimental design and design allowable calculation methodology expertise