Relativity Space
Senior Instrumentation & Controls Engineer, Launch Operations
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 Launch team operates at the intersection of every major aspect of Terran R, from stages and payloads to ground systems, launch, landing, and refurbishment. The Cape is the only place where you see it all come together, offering a level of exposure and responsibility unmatched elsewhere in the program. This is where first flights happen, where history is built on top of history, and where the scale of what's underway is unlike anything in modern aerospace. The mission stays the same, but the work evolves with every milestone: from first launch to reuse, high-cadence operations, and beyond. If you're looking to define what's next in space launch and write a new playbook, not just repeat what’s already been done, this is where it happens.
About the Role:
- Design, develop, test, integrate, and operate launch control and acquisition hardware, instrumentation, and cameras used to support and control the Terran R rocket.
- Work with Beckhoff PLCs or similar systems.
- Support high-speed data acquisition.
- Work with instrumentation including pressure, temperature, flow, level, accelerometers, solenoid valves, VFDs, and heaters.
- Integrate and operate IP, SDI, and CoaXPress high-speed cameras.
- Design electrical systems for use in hazardous areas.
- Collaborate across groups to gather requirements, plan schedules, and coordinate work.
- Plan, install, and operate wiring and hardware in access-limited areas such as launch mounts and transport erectors.
- Manage projects from inception to completion.
About You:
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Process Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or another related STEM discipline.
- 8+ years of relevant experience.
- Demonstrated expertise with data acquisition hardware, PLC-based control systems, complex camera systems, and instrumentation selection and troubleshooting.
- Hands-on experience interfacing with and setting up VFDs, soft starts, and heater controllers.
- Proven ability to work with multidisciplinary groups in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
- Experience managing projects in high-paced, high-risk environments.
Nice to haves but not required:
- Experience with the design and operation of spacecraft and launch vehicle infrastructure.
- Experience working at a rocket launch facility.
- Proficiency with electrical schematic design software such as AutoCAD Electrical, EPLAN, or Zuken E3.
Successful candidates must clear a background check administered by the US government to obtain clearance for on-site work at our government partner location in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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 [email protected].
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