Loads and Dynamics Engineer II
How this pay compares
This posting states $103k–$155k a year. Open mechanical engineer jobs in California post a median of $158k a year, the middle half $130k–$180k, across 266 jobs that state their pay, so this one is below the middle half of what they post.
Mechanical engineers in California: pay by town and employer
About the job
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 Integrated Performance team owns the holistic view of how Terran R comes together, ensuring that every system on the vehicle and ground is capable of achieving our ambitious objectives.
The team works across the full launch system, from trajectory design and aerodynamics to reliability analysis and beyond, with direct influence on all parts of the product lifecycle, from conceptual design to post-flight data review. Beyond analysis, team members engage hands-on with hardware and operations, with the mission and authority to drive meaningful programmatic change.
With a unique organizational structure, the integrated performance team spans multiple technical domains and embeds directly with partner teams to solve the hardest multi-disciplinary problems. The team operates with a rare scale: large enough to support complex development, yet small enough that individual contributors have meaningful impact.
The Loads & Dynamics team works collaboratively with adjacent Flight Sciences teams including Dynamic Environments and Aerodynamics and across the Structures, Mechanisms, Fluids, GNCP, Launch and Test teams to develop robust vehicle, ground system, and component architectures, generate associated loads, maintain and improve related analysis tools, provide design and test guidance, and contribute to performance trades on time and budget while meeting our technical requirements.
A high degree of autonomy along with an ability to prioritize work in our fast-paced environment is required. ## About the Role - Drive maturation of hardware designs and ops decisions through analysis, understanding of vehicle and program needs, and proactive communication across teams - Develop Dynamic loads, levels, and criteria from initial concept through data review for vehicle and supporting hardware for Terran R - I nform primary structure design and customer load inputs through Coupled Loads Analysis - Develop and validate random vibration and shock specifications and ensuring hardware across the vehicle is qualified to those specifications - Build, validate, and document analytical models to generate component load predictions ## About You - Undergraduate degree with emphasis on mechanics and vibrations.
Graduate coursework preferred. - Experience with Finite Element and/or other modeling approaches for dynamic response analysis - Experience with relevant testing, instrumentation, and data analysis - Fluency in Python, MATLAB, or similar programming languages for engineering analysis - Familiarity with statistics and data analysis ## Nice to haves but not required - Graduate degree in engineering or related field - High-speed or modal data acquisition & signal processing experience - Experience with NASTRAN, VA One, Wave6, LS-DYNA, or other domain-specific analysis tools - Experience with coupled loads analysis (CLA) or multibody dynamics (MBD) - Experience with liquid rocket engines, launch vehicle analysis, or similar in aerospace 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 $103,000 - $155,000 USD
From Relativity Space's job posting, checked 7 Nov 2026. The employer's own page is the final word on requirements and availability.
Selected agencies hiring now
Moseley Technical ServicesEngineering and technical staffing agency
Engineering and technical staffing firm in Huntsville, Alabama, placing engineers and A&P, sheet metal, CNC and quality technicians.
Places: Propulsion, Mechanical, Avionics, RF & Payloads
Contract Professionals Inc (CPI)Engineering and technical staffing agency
Aerospace and defense staffing firm in Waterford, Michigan, placing engineers, maintenance technicians, mechanics, welders and CNC machinists.
Places: Propulsion, Mechanical, Avionics, RF & Payloads
These agencies and apps pay SpaceJobs.Now a referral fee when someone we introduce is placed or signs up. It costs you nothing and never changes your pay. Employers' own jobs below keep their own order.
Sponsored jobs from job networks, which pay SpaceJobs.Now when you click one.
Free tools for this application: check your resume against this job, answer the application's questions or see every free tool.
New mechanical, structures and thermal engineering jobs in space in California, by email
One email a week with the newest ones, straight from the employers' own careers sites, with the pay each posting states. Free, stop anytime.
About Relativity Space
Builds reusable rockets that make access to space more reliable and routine.
Pay on its listings: 99.7% of its open jobs state an hourly rate
How it pays: Paid as an employee on Relativity Space's own payroll (salaried or hourly, as each posting states).
More open jobs at Relativity Space
- Vehicle Structures Engineer I (Heat Shield)$90,000–$136,000/yr
- EHS Specialist II - Environmental Compliance$74,000–$112,000/yr
- Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Mechanisms$122,000–$182,000/yr
- Propulsion Integration & Test Engineer I, First shift$93,000–$139,000/yr
- Relativity Space Hiring Event | Long Beach | Nov. 19th
- Staff Technical Product Manager, Configuration Management$175,000–$263,000/yr
More mechanical, structures and thermal engineering jobs in space
- Loads & Dynamics Engineer (Starshield)$100,000–$160,000/yr
- Spacecraft Dynamics Engineer$136,000–$220,000/yr
- Senior Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer$150,000–$200,000/yr
- Senior Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer - Composites and Structures$175,000–$215,000/yr
- Vehicle Structures Engineer I (Heat Shield)$90,000–$136,000/yr
- Strength Analyst 3$99,604–$166,007/yr
A mechanical, structures or thermal engineer?
One profile for every employer here. Space companies and their recruiters ask us for people with a specific degree, clearance, specialty or location: add yours once, and when a job fits, we introduce you, only with your yes. Free.
Relativity Space openings, sent to you weekly
Each week we send the newest postings from Relativity Space's own careers site, along with similar openings at other space employers. It costs nothing and you can stop anytime.