Relativity
Senior Manager, Mechanical Design, Tooling
Long Beach, California
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. 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. You’ll help develop a rocket, a factory, and a business from the ground up, collaborating across teams and shaping decisions in record time. Creativity and technical rigor go hand in hand, and your voice will define the stories we’re writing together.
About the Team The Tooling and Factory Automation team sits at the intersection of design, manufacturing, and automation, making everything from large‑scale structural fixtures to small tools that directly enable Terran R’s production. As a design group embedded within the manufacturing organization, we dig deep into internal partners’ needs to understand root problems, propose solutions, and deliver hardware to build faster, scale smarter, and work better. The team is also at the forefront of Relativity’s growing factory automation efforts, a critical part of scaling production. You’ll have the autonomy to make decisions, field solutions, and see them in action on the factory floor. Ultimately, you’re not just designing tools or automated processes; you’re defining how rockets and factories get built.
About the Role
Lead and develop a high‑performing team of tooling engineers delivering solutions that enable safe, efficient, and repeatable production.
Define and execute the long‑term tooling strategy, aligning priorities across design, manufacturing, and operations to support current and future production goals.
Oversee design, fabrication, and commissioning of complex tooling systems that improve manufacturability, quality, and throughput across multiple work centers.
Manage the tooling project portfolio, driving cost, schedule, and technical performance to ensure readiness for both production and development programs.
Partner with design engineering and manufacturing teams to ensure tooling readiness for new product introductions and continuous product evolution.
Standardize best practices for design documentation, preventive maintenance, and configuration control to ensure reliability and compliance across all tooling assets.
About You
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, or Aerospace Engineering (or equivalent experience).
8+ years of experience in tooling design, manufacturing engineering, or related field, with 3+ years in people leadership.
Expertise with CAD and PLM systems (e.g., NX, Teamcenter, CATIA, SolidWorks).
Demonstrated experience leading large‑scale tooling initiatives for complex hardware (structures, assemblies, or propulsion).
Strong understanding of GD&T, tolerance analysis, materials, and manufacturing processes (machining, composites, weldments, additive). Proven ability to manage cross‑functional programs balancing cost, schedule, and performance.
Nice to Haves
Experience in aerospace, automotive, or oil & gas production environments with rapid development cycles.
Background in Lean manufacturing and Design for Manufacturability (DFM).
Experience with factory automation, lifting and handling systems, or test tooling.
Strong leadership presence with ability to coach and scale engineering organizations.
Compensation & Benefits At Relativity Space, we offer competitive salary, equity, generous PTO and sick leave, parental leave, annual learning stipend, and more. Compensation is only one part of our total rewards package.
Hiring Range:
$192,000 - $213,000 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.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
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. 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. You’ll help develop a rocket, a factory, and a business from the ground up, collaborating across teams and shaping decisions in record time. Creativity and technical rigor go hand in hand, and your voice will define the stories we’re writing together.
About the Team The Tooling and Factory Automation team sits at the intersection of design, manufacturing, and automation, making everything from large‑scale structural fixtures to small tools that directly enable Terran R’s production. As a design group embedded within the manufacturing organization, we dig deep into internal partners’ needs to understand root problems, propose solutions, and deliver hardware to build faster, scale smarter, and work better. The team is also at the forefront of Relativity’s growing factory automation efforts, a critical part of scaling production. You’ll have the autonomy to make decisions, field solutions, and see them in action on the factory floor. Ultimately, you’re not just designing tools or automated processes; you’re defining how rockets and factories get built.
About the Role
Lead and develop a high‑performing team of tooling engineers delivering solutions that enable safe, efficient, and repeatable production.
Define and execute the long‑term tooling strategy, aligning priorities across design, manufacturing, and operations to support current and future production goals.
Oversee design, fabrication, and commissioning of complex tooling systems that improve manufacturability, quality, and throughput across multiple work centers.
Manage the tooling project portfolio, driving cost, schedule, and technical performance to ensure readiness for both production and development programs.
Partner with design engineering and manufacturing teams to ensure tooling readiness for new product introductions and continuous product evolution.
Standardize best practices for design documentation, preventive maintenance, and configuration control to ensure reliability and compliance across all tooling assets.
About You
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, or Aerospace Engineering (or equivalent experience).
8+ years of experience in tooling design, manufacturing engineering, or related field, with 3+ years in people leadership.
Expertise with CAD and PLM systems (e.g., NX, Teamcenter, CATIA, SolidWorks).
Demonstrated experience leading large‑scale tooling initiatives for complex hardware (structures, assemblies, or propulsion).
Strong understanding of GD&T, tolerance analysis, materials, and manufacturing processes (machining, composites, weldments, additive). Proven ability to manage cross‑functional programs balancing cost, schedule, and performance.
Nice to Haves
Experience in aerospace, automotive, or oil & gas production environments with rapid development cycles.
Background in Lean manufacturing and Design for Manufacturability (DFM).
Experience with factory automation, lifting and handling systems, or test tooling.
Strong leadership presence with ability to coach and scale engineering organizations.
Compensation & Benefits At Relativity Space, we offer competitive salary, equity, generous PTO and sick leave, parental leave, annual learning stipend, and more. Compensation is only one part of our total rewards package.
Hiring Range:
$192,000 - $213,000 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.
#J-18808-Ljbffr