Company Overview:  

Relativity is the first and only company to automate aerospace manufacturing by integrating intelligent robotics, software, and proprietary metal 3D printing technology. Disrupting 60 years of aerospace, Relativity offers a radically simplified supply chain, building a rocket with 100x fewer parts in less than 60 days. Our long-term goal is to upgrade humanity’s industrial base on Earth and on Mars.  

Team:

At Relativity, we re-imagine the way rockets are built and flown. The Materials and Processes Team plays a crucial role in this mission by evaluating and improving the materials that make our rockets. We are searching for a Staff Materials Engineer, Fracture Mechanics and Life Management who will serve as the primary Materials Engineering focal point for the understanding of fracture and fatigue behaviors of the company’s critical additively-manufactured hardware.

What you’ll do:

• Serve as Materials Engineering subject matter expert for all engineering activities related to fracture mechanics and design for fatigue and fracture.
• Deriving material property requirements for damage tolerant design and expected life, maximum allowable flaw size based on the loading spectra for given applications.
• Facilitate characterization of fatigue and fracture properties of additively manufactured materials and aerospace components
• Develop novel technologies for fracture and toughness materials characterization to be deployed in an additive manufacturing factory
• Work across the engineering organization to support materials selection and property development
• Facilitate technology trade studies in considering structural design for fracture tolerance and hardware life
• Find and implement innovative approaches to improve fatigue life of hardware
• Support failure analysis and non-conformance resolution activities
• Mentor other engineers in fatigue and damage tolerance best practices
• Interface with:
  • R&D staff to identify, define, and fill technology gaps
  • Laboratory staff to characterize materials and processes
  • Designers to support design and drawing reviews
  • Manufacturing engineering to improve processes, troubleshoot issues and facilitate operations
  • Quality assurance to facilitate specification compliance validation
  • Leadership to elevate risks and overcome roadblocks

What you need to know:

• Bachelor’s degree in materials science or mechanical engineering
• 7+ years of experience related to fatigue, fracture, or failure analysis of metals
• Specific knowledge of fracture and fatigue test methods and relevant technologies
• Demonstrated ability and experience conducting fatigue or fracture tests and failure analyses
• Critical eye for design of experiments including the ability to select appropriate sample sizes and perform preliminary statistical analyses

Nice to haves but not required:

• Master’s/PhD in material science or materials engineering, with specific studies and work in fracture mechanics of metals
• Expertise in design for fracture control and damage tolerance design
• Familiarity with fracture testing standards including ASTM E399, E561, E813, E1152, E1737, E1290, E1820, E1921, E2472
• Experience with aerospace materials including high strength aluminum, nickel alloys and titanium
• Understanding of non-destructive test methods and probability of detection concepts for fracture control
• Familiarity with NASGRO, AFGROW, BAMpF, Stress Check and other crack growth models
• Familiarity with aerospace fracture control requirements and standards such as NASA-STD-5019 and NASA-STD-5012

This position must meet Export Control compliance requirements, therefore a United States Person as defined by 22 C.F.R.  § 120.15 is required.

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.

Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, a generous vacation policy, L&D stipend and more! Learn more here!