Manager, Stage Propulsion

3 days ago


Long Beach, CA, United States Relativity Space Full time

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 Stage Fluids team designs and delivers the propellant, pressurant, pneumatics, and other fluid systems that turn structures into functioning rockets. The team has full ownership across design, production, test, and flight, maintaining a holistic view of Terran R, focused not on isolated parts but integrated functionality. Working on-site at the factory means you're never far from the hardware, enabling rapid iteration and tight feedback loops across design and manufacturing. You won't just be handed requirements: you'll be expected to ask the right questions, collaborate with partners across the company, and ultimately find the best solutions for Terran R.

About the Role:

As a Manager, you will lead a team of vehicle fluid systems responsible engineers. Your scope will include system architecture design, CONOPs and control development, system analysis/simulation, and verification testing. You'll be involved in every phase of vehicle development and operation, owning a broad and significant scope of engineering problems across the entire vehicle.

About You:

  • Bachelor's degree in science, engineering, technology, or mathematics field
  • 8+ years of relevant engineering experience in a complex system development and/or test environment
  • Minimum of 2 years of direct experience with vehicle fluid or propulsion systems
  • Proven leadership experience, demonstrated through mentoring, managing complex interdisciplinary projects, supporting continuous improvement of the people around you, or participating in growing your team through hiring
  • Experience applying engineering fundamentals in fluid mechanics & thermodynamics
  • Clear evidence of ownership, problem-solving skills, and effective team collaboration
Nice to haves but not required:
  • Working knowledge of fluid components such as valves and instrumentation
  • Working knowledge of vehicle subsystems (reaction control systems, press/vent and propellant combustion devices and turbomachinery
  • Demonstrated drive to deliver on ambitious schedules, even and especially if unconventional & creative solutions are necessary to do so


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:

$185,000-$204,000 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 accommodations@relativityspace.com.

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