Staff Engineer, Vehicle Fluid Systems

Company Overview:

At Relativity Space, we have two audacious goals: to build the next great commercial launch company with Terran R and to become America's leading force in additive manufacturing innovation. Both contribute to our long-term vision of creating humanity’s industrial base on Mars, paving the way for interplanetary life to expand the possibilities of the human experience. This journey begins right here on Earth – where we design, build, and fly rockets to deliver customer payloads to orbit. Terran R, our medium-to-heavy lift reusable rocket, fulfills the growing demand for launch capacity, thanks to our iterative approach that accelerates design, testing, and development while minimizing costs. While our groundbreaking research and development in 3D printing pushes the boundaries of large-scale additive manufacturing.

Your journey with us is more than just a job – it’s an opportunity to shape the future of aerospace technology, additive manufacturing, and the human experience alongside a community of passionate, creative individuals. Join us on this extraordinary journey, as we work together to transform our vision into reality.

About the Team:

The Stage Fluids team is responsible for all fluid systems between the engine and the ground connection that will enable our Terran R rockets to venture to space. We collaborate closely with virtually every discipline- including our propulsion, structures, launch, and test teams- to deliver a vehicle capable of launching to orbit. We strive for continuous improvement and support the development of our technical hardware and human teammates alike.

About the Role: 

In this role, you will be responsible for the design and analysis of the fluid systems that ensure reliable and efficient operation of Terran R vehicles.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Conducting trade studies to produce architectures and designs that satisfy system requirements
• Sizing at the system and component level
• Detailed fluid and thermal analyses including system performance prediction and characterization using a variety of analytical methods (1D steady-state, transient, fluid networks, etc.)
• Create tools to enhance our team’s analysis capabilities and streamline workflow
• Participate in design and manufacturing reviews
• Own and lead test campaigns to validate system design and performance
• Anchor models with data from test and launch

In order to be successful in this role, you should be someone who thrives in ambiguity and is able to lead their own projects into completion. A high degree of drive and autonomy is required. You must be flexible to changes in strategic direction and willing to push your understanding and intuition to ensure we as a company are producing the best possible product. You will be directly responsible for mission-critical systems and processes as a technical authority for one or multiple fluid systems and/or processes on the launch vehicle. Along with these high expectations comes the opportunity to have a significant influence on a fast-growing startup company and to oversee rapid progress in an environment that encourages growth and risk.

About You: 

• Bachelor’s degree (Mechanical Engineering or relevant)
• 7+ years of experience working with fluids systems
• Expert experience applying engineering fundamentals in system design, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and heat transfer
• Experience with one or more fluid or thermal modeling tools for internal compressible and incompressible analysis
• Experience with programming languages such as Matlab, Python, or C++
• Experience applying engineering fundamentals to solve real, complex hardware problems

Nice to haves, but not required: 

• Experience with launch vehicles and spacecraft

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.