Staff Manufacturing Engineer, Structures
How this pay compares
This posting states $143k–$215k a year. Open manufacturing engineer jobs in California post a median of $141k a year, the middle half $130k–$163k, across 205 jobs that state their pay, so this one is above the middle half of what they post.
Manufacturing 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 Manufacturing team at Relativity Space is currently deep in manufacturing trades and process development for Terran R, our next generation, fully re-useable rocket.
This team has a wide variety of responsibilities - from determining the most efficient factory floor layout, to developing and implementing complex tooling and processes, and even interfacing with the vehicle engineering team to heavily influence the design of the rocket.
Unique to Relativity, you will get to work across many teams to iterate and support development of the vehicle program. ## About the Role - Own the shop floor for one or more primary structure assembly work centers, clearing barriers and keeping production moving - Champion process improvements across work centers, incorporating learnings from the first Terran R build - Partner with design, manufacturing, and reliability engineers, production teams, and outside vendors to drive builds forward - Write work instructions, specifications, and best practices for high-fidelity processes, and standardize them across the manufacturing team - Provide Design for Manufacturing feedback to structures teams from development through the first prototype and flight builds ## About You - Bachelor's degree in manufacturing, aerospace, mechanical, or another engineering discipline - 8+ years related experience - Hands-on history supporting complex assembly builds, including making risk calls to disposition issues and keep production moving - Strong fundamentals in statics, mechanics of materials, process improvement and factory design, fastening and joining, and machining - Working knowledge of drilling and trim ops, tooling, inspection methods, and GD&T - Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to work across engineering and manufacturing to understand process constraints and feed back manufacturability inputs - Self-motivated, able to prioritize and execute in a high-pressure environment ## Nice to have, but not required - Direct experience with drill, trim, and fastening operations on aerospace products - New product introduction of an aerospace hardware system into manufacturing, test, and production, with proven success - Project management experience in a fast-paced environment 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 $143,000 - $215,000 USD
From Relativity Space's job posting, checked 7 Nov 2026. The employer's own page is the final word on requirements and availability.
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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).
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