Additive Manufacturing Engineer II, PBF
Relativity Space · Long Beach, United States · 2mo ago
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 Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing team is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in rocket propulsion hardware. Responsible for development, process, and production, the team oversees initial concept to final hardware with rigorous quality and precision. From developing print parameters on state-of-the-art 3D printers to enabling fast iteration for partner departments, the team plays a critical role in taking engine designs from concept to hot fire. The team was instrumental in producing Aeon 1 engines for Terran 1 launch and is now pioneering next-generation processes and designs for our Aeon R engines that will power Terran R. With flight hardware production scaling up rapidly, now is the time to join and make a direct impact.
About the Role:
- Own build preparation, print programming strategy, manufacturing planning, and technical execution for assigned PBF hardware or product groups
- Provide feedback to design team on printability, DfAM improvements, part consolidation opportunities, and manufacturability trade-offs
- Develop and maintain controlled PBF process documentation, build standards, work instructions, verification plans, and engineering decision records
- Partner with materials engineering to understand qualification requirements, proposed process changes, and the evidence needed to verify and release those changes
- Lead nonconformance investigations for assigned hardware, including data review, root-cause hypotheses, risk assessment, corrective action recommendations, and clear technical summaries
- Identify recurring NCs and implement preventive actions in collaboration with process engineering, quality, and design
- Coordinate with PBF process engineering, machine owners, inspection, quality, design, post-processing, machining, and program teams to remove blockers and protect hardware delivery
- Evaluate process changes involving parameters, scan strategy, support design, build layout, powder state, machine configuration, heat treatment, depowdering, or inspection criteria
- Use production and quality data to identify trends such as material failures, machine errors, queue bottlenecks, and documentation gaps
- Create dashboards, checklists, templates, or standard work that improve team throughput, quality, and reproducibility
- Mentor interns or newer engineers in PBF fundamentals, documentation quality, problem solving, and cross-functional communication
- Represent PBF Development Engineering in technical reviews, risk discussions, readiness reviews, and partner-team meetings
About You:
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Manufacturing Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field
- 2+ years in metal additive manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, aerospace hardware, materials/process engineering, or related fields (full time industry experience)
- Working knowledge of LPBF process variables, build preparation, support strategy, inspection, heat treatment, nonconformance processes, and configuration control
- Proficiency with LPBF additive manufacturing of metallic materials and understanding of DfAM fundamentals
- Hands-on experience with work orders, work instruction creation, and non-conformance resolution
- Experience with AM tools such as EOSprint, Magics, 3dxpert, Flow, and CAD tools such as Siemens NX (preferred) or Solidworks
- Comfort working with production data, quality records, engineering drawings, specifications, and ambiguous technical constraints
Nice to haves but not required:
- Experience owning additive manufacturing products through the AM lifecycle (work orders, non conformances, etc.); through machining and further post processing
- Experience with metal powder handling, tensile testing, metallography, CT/inspection data analysis, or aerospace qualification programs
- Experience writing or revising process specifications, qualification plans, acceptance criteria, change-control packages, or AS9100-aligned documentation
- Experience using Jira, MES/ERP systems, Power BI, Tableau, Python, Minitab, or other tools for workflow management and technical data analysis
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.
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.
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.