Materials Characterization Engineer II (Metallics Development)

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 Materials & NDE Engineering team is responsible for the development, characterization, and inspection of materials across the Terran R launch vehicle. We specialize in rapid implementation of material systems through robust internal testing capabilities and first principles driven qualification approaches. We have recently made our first primary structure barrel, supported introduction of next generation powder additive alloys in the Aeon-R engine, and developed 100% in-cell NDE inspection capabilities for WAAM manufactured hardware.

About the Role:

• Serve as the subject matter expert (SME) for all microstructural characterization activities, including metallography, optical microscopy, and phase identification.
• Own microstructural characterization plans to drive the development of novel material processes and identify alloy-system specific susceptibilities. Inform process and property impacts to mitigate flight production delays.
• Develop documentation for both equipment and test procedures.
• Identify opportunities to expand in-house testing capabilities and drive justification/purchase of equipment and tooling.
• Communicate technical data to engineering customers and determine best practices for data output and reporting
• Identify opportunities to increase the throughput of production materials testing.
• Interface with:
  • Materials & Process team to translate microstructural implications to material allowable impacts.
  • Non-Destructive Examination team to correlate macroscale defects to material structure.
  • Supply Chain team to source test equipment and consumables.
  • Leadership to elevate risks and overcome roadblocks.

About You:

• Degree in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) or related field
  • BS +2-4 years of experience
  • MS +0-2 years of experience
  • PhD +0-1 years of experience

Nice to haves but not required:

• Experience correlating microstructure to properties in additively manufactured materials.
• Experience with tooling fabrication, CAD, and analysis software (e.g. ANSYS).
• Experience with sub-scale and micro-scale mechanical testing.
• Familiarity with non-destructive evaluation techniques.
• Microstructural characterization experience spanning nano to meso-scale.
• Expertise in ASTM standards for testing in metallurgical areas
• Experience with aerospace materials including high strength aluminum, nickel-based superalloys, copper alloys, titanium, refractories, polymers/adhesives, and/or composites
• A desire to establish and foster strong interdisciplinary relationships across the company

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:

$112,000-$143,000 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.