Senior Recovery Certification and Operations Engineer
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About this role
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 Offshore Recovery team is responsible for designing, building and operating the maritime vessels used to land and recover the Terran R launch vehicle. This isn’t your standard desk job. We are a lean, fast-moving team who cover the full project lifecycle – beginning with system requirements definition and design, hands-on with build and activation in the shipyard, all the way through supporting critical offshore recovery missions at sea. We collaborate with teams across the company, including Terran R designers, launch pad builders and rocket engine testers!
About the Role:
- Certification Leadership: Lead the vessel certification effort and serve as the primary point of contact with regulatory and certification organizations throughout the vessel lifecycle, including design, construction, sea trials, certification, and offshore mission support.
- Regulatory Coordination: Support Relativity's dockside and offshore operations by coordinating with applicable regulatory and certification organizations, including the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), U.S. Space Force (USSF), NASA, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and other applicable agencies.
- Offshore Operations Support: Support offshore recovery campaigns by helping ensure vessel systems and operations meet applicable certification and regulatory requirements for the landing and recovery of Terran R.
- Continuous Improvement: Apply operational experience and lessons learned from existing recovery platforms to support the design, certification, and implementation of future landing platform capabilities.
- Cross-Functional Partnership: Build and maintain collaborative relationships with internal engineering teams and external regulatory and certification organizations to support long-term operational objectives and increased launch cadence.
About You:
- Demonstrated ability to take initiative, adapt to changing priorities, and contribute across multiple responsibilities in a collaborative, fast-paced environment.
- Experience supporting the offshore vessel certification process, including coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), and other applicable regulatory and certification organizations. Experience with novel vessel construction, spaceport operations, or organizations such as DNV, USSF, or the FAA is preferred.
- Strong understanding of marine engineering principles, applicable regulations, and certification requirements, with the ability to interpret and apply regulatory requirements to complex maritime projects.
- Ability and willingness to travel approximately 25% of the time, with occasional weekend travel or work based on business needs. Travel requirements may vary depending on project phase, including engineering, certification, shipyard activities, sea trials, home port operations, and mission support.
- Experience in offshore maritime operations or a related marine environment, including familiarity with the operational challenges associated with offshore vessels.
- Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with regulatory agencies, certification organizations, engineering teams, and offshore operations personnel.
- Proven ability to collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
Nice to haves but not required:
- Experience supporting offshore launch, recovery, or other complex offshore operations involving marine assets.
- Experience supporting vessel construction, modification, retrofit, or repair programs in a shipyard or similar industrial environment.
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 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.
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