Structural Analysis Engineer II

Relativity Space
Long Beach, CA
On-siteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

Structural engineers with advanced analysis skills and aerospace experience will find this collaborative, hands-on role in a fast-moving launch vehicle development environment.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 2+ years of structural analysis experience and a background in aerospace or mechanical engineering
    — “2+ years experience in an analysis role”
  • Individuals who can drive technical innovation and work across multiple domains with a focus on reusable launch vehicles
    — “Develop novel structural analysis techniques for reusable launch vehicles”
  • Engineers who thrive in a team that embeds directly with partner groups to solve complex, multi-disciplinary problems
    — “embeds directly with partner teams to solve the hardest multi-disciplinary problems”

Things to consider

  • The role requires hands-on work with hardware and testing, which may demand physical presence at the Long Beach location
    — “team members engage hands-on with hardware and operations”
  • The compensation range is broad, and may vary significantly based on experience and qualifications
    — “Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your experience with structural analysis of complex aerospace components in your resume and interviews
    — “Drive architecture, sizing, and development of structures like tanks, thrust structures, mechanisms, trays, lines, and other components”
  • Demonstrate proficiency with structural mechanics and failure modes in your technical projects or coursework
    — “Fundamental knowledge of metallic structure behavior and failure modes like strength, stability, and fatigue”
  • Showcase your ability to develop and execute tests, including hands-on instrumentation setup and data processing
    — “Develop and execute tests to support structures development and qualification, including hands-on work like test article integration, instrumentation setup, and data processing”
  • Emphasize your experience with commercial finite element analysis tools such as Nastran or Abaqus
    — “Proficiency in a commercial aerospace finite element package (e.g., Nastran, Abaqus)”
  • Demonstrate your ability to automate analysis and develop tools to improve efficiency in structural design
    — “Build, execute, and validate structures analyses at the component, system, and vehicle level, including relevant tool development and automation”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Driving architecture and development of complex structures
  • Executing and validating structures analyses
Typical background
2+ years experience in an analysis role

Skills & requirements

Required

Structural AnalysisFinite Element AnalysisTool DevelopmentTest Execution

Preferred

Reusable Launch Vehicle DesignAgile Methodologies

Stack & domain

Structural AnalysisMechanicsEngineeringCollaborationProblem-solvingCommunicationSpace

About the role

Original posting from Relativity Space via Greenhouse

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 Integrated Analysis group is responsible for accelerating Relativity's hardware engineering via advanced analysis and cutting-edge tools. The team works on a variety of complex structures analyses across all of our hardware teams, and develops tools and methods to unlock deeper insight in less time - to reduce weight, improve robustness, and deliver more flight-ready hardware to the launch pad.

About the Role:

Drive architecture, sizing, and development of structures like tanks, thrust structures, mechanisms, trays, lines, and other components in collaboration with peer technical teams

Build, execute, and validate structures analyses at the component, system, and vehicle level, including relevant tool development and automation

Develop novel structural analysis techniques for reusable launch vehicles 

Direct design and development engineers in the successful application of structural mechanics and analysis principles to achieve system and component requirements

Develop and execute tests to support structures development and qualification, including hands-on work like test article integration, instrumentation setup, and data processing

About You:

Undergraduate degree in Engineering or a related discipline 

2+ years experience in an analysis role

Working knowledge of structural analysis and test (from hand calculations to advanced numerical analysis e.g., nonlinear buckling or explicit dynamics)

Fundamental knowledge of metallic structure behavior and failure modes like strength, stability, and fatigue

Proficiency in a commercial aerospace finite element package (e.g., Nastran, Abaqus) and a relevant pre/post-processor like Femap

Proficiency with an engineering scripting language like Python or MATLAB

Nice to haves, but not required:

Graduate degree in Engineering or a related discipline

5+ years experience in an analysis role

Experience across 1 or more full product lifecycles of an integrated vehicle

Graduate education in structural mechanics, computer science, or numerical methods

Experience with Abaqus or ANSA

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:$104,000—$156,000 USDWe 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.

If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact us at accommodations@relativityspace.com.

Please note: Relativity Space does not accept unsolicited resumes, candidate profiles, or referrals from recruitment agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited submission - via email, our website, social media, or directly to an employee - will be deemed the property of Relativity Space, and no fee will be owed absent a current, fully executed agreement with Talent Acquisition that specifically authorizes submissions for the applicable role.

Source: Relativity Space careers (Greenhouse)

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