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Relativity Space

Develops 3D-printed reusable rockets for launches

Lead Structural Analysis Engineering - Stress, Fatigue & Damage Tolerance

Materials & StructuresConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeLong Beach, CA, USAIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

  • A bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
  • Experience leading or mentoring a team, formally or informally.
  • At least 5 years of experience in structural analysis, fatigue and damage tolerance, or structural life assessment.
  • Strong understanding of static stress analysis, structural mechanics, fatigue and fracture mechanics, and structural failure modes in aerospace hardware.
  • Proficiency with commercial finite element analysis tools such as Nastran and Abaqus.
  • Experience using pre- and post-processing environments such as Femap.
  • Proficiency with fracture mechanics software such as NASGRO and AFGROW.
  • Experience converting time-domain or spectral loads into fatigue damage and life predictions.
  • Proficiency with engineering scripting or analysis languages such as Python or MATLAB.
  • Ability to independently scope, execute, review, and defend structural analyses.

Responsibilities

  • Oversee a team of analysts while maintaining direct technical contribution.
  • Provide technical mentorship and guidance to structural analysts and engineers.
  • Collaborate with design, materials, manufacturing, and test teams to ensure structurally robust and manufacturable designs.
  • Establish and improve structural analysis standards, best practices, and verification workflows.
  • Develop automation and analysis tools using scripting environments such as Python or MATLAB to improve analysis efficiency.
  • Lead structural analysis activities for major vehicle structures across component, subsystem, and vehicle levels.
  • Define structural analysis methodologies, requirements, and design margins for flight-critical hardware.
  • Provide technical leadership across static stress, fatigue, fracture mechanics, and durability assessments.
  • Perform and review static and dynamic stress analyses for metallic and additively manufactured structures.
  • Develop and maintain finite element models using tools such as Nastran and Abaqus with pre- and post-processing environments such as Femap.
  • Evaluate structural margins including yield, ultimate strength, buckling, thermal stress, and dynamic response.
  • Support structural sizing and optimization of primary load-bearing structures.
  • Develop fatigue life and durability predictions using SN/EN methods and fracture mechanics approaches.
  • Perform crack initiation and crack growth analyses using tools such as NASGRO and AFGROW.
  • Establish fatigue allowables, crack growth limits, inspection intervals, and life limits for flight hardware.
  • Translate time-domain or spectral load environments into fatigue-relevant stress histories and cumulative damage metrics.
  • Translate flight, ground, acoustic, and thermal environments into structural loads and responses.
  • Integrate loads and environments into structural analysis and fatigue life predictions.
  • Support multidisciplinary analysis for vehicle-level structural performance.
  • Lead correlation of structural and fatigue analyses with qualification and durability testing.
  • Support structural testing, including component, subsystem, and full-scale structural tests; investigate anomalies and structural failures and update analysis models accordingly.
  • Support structural life reassessment using test and flight data.

Desired Qualifications

  • A master’s or PhD in Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering.
  • Experience with launch vehicles, reusable aerospace systems, or flight-critical hardware.
  • Experience with additive manufacturing structural analysis and fatigue characterization.
  • Familiarity with Elastic-Plastic Fracture Mechanics (EPFM).
  • Experience correlating structural, fatigue, or fracture predictions with test or flight data.
  • Prior experience defining structural design allowables or durability standards for aerospace systems.

About the Company

Relativity Space

Develops 3D-printed reusable rockets for launches

Relativity Space designs and launches rockets that are largely built with 3D-printed parts. Its core product line includes the Terran R, a medium-to-heavy lift rocket designed to be reusable and capable of delivering payloads to LEO and GTO. The company works by using advanced additive manufacturing to print most rocket structures and components in-house, reducing parts, complexity, and production time, and then offers launch services to customers who want to put satellites or other payloads into space. Unlike many peers, Relativity Space relies on a predominantly 3D-printed, vertically integrated approach with its own proprietary designs and manufacturing processes, aiming to streamline production and cut costs. The goal is to make access to space cheaper and more reliable by building a scalable, in-house manufacturing platform and a reusable rocket fleet that can deploy payloads on demand.

Company size
1,001-5,000
Company stage
Growth Equity (Venture Capital)
Total funding
$2.2B
Headquarters
Long Beach, CA
Founded
2016

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