Senior Aerothermal Engineer

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:  

The Integrated Performance department is responsible for ensuring that Relativity’s rockets will achieve our objectives. Our department comprises teams responsible for Flight Sciences, including Aerodynamics, Thermal Science, Loads, and Dynamics; Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) and Performance; Structures Analysis; and Systems Engineering. Our teams architect and execute analysis, simulation, and test projects for all of Relativity’s hardware, software, and operations teams in pursuit of mission success.

What you’ll do: 

• Develop and execute CFD analyses to solve novel challenges in vehicle entry heating and supersonic retropropulsion
• Drive the design of major Terran R system elements – like fins, flaps, heat shields, and primary structure - to meet criteria for temperature and heating
• Guide and mentor responsible hardware engineers to ensure hardware meets aerothermal requirements
• Scope and develop aerothermal databases for ascent and entry, including uncertainty quantification, from multiple sources like CFD, empirical methods, and wind tunnel testing
• Mature Relativity’s tools for developing and communicating aerothermal data, including custom and commercial code, databases, and signal processing tools

To be successful in this role, you should be self-motivated, adaptable, and able to contribute significantly to a fast-paced, integrated vehicle program. You should also be able to resolve ambiguity and drive projects to completion. Ideally, you have significant compressible flow, CFD, and High-Performance Computing (HPC) experience as well as a proven track record completing projects successfully in a highly collaborative environment.

On a weekly basis, you will be performing analysis, developing software tools, and supporting design teams. You will also use your strong organizational skills to properly manage the documentation and communication of your actions, recommendations, and decisions.

What you need to know:  

• A graduate degree in engineering or related field and 5+ years relevant experience
• Industry-leading expertise in compressible flow and CFD, preferably on entry vehicles
• Experience architecting and executing CFD workflows for external flow, preferably including engine plume simulation
• Experience solving complex problems on integrated vehicles
• Proficiency in Python and industry-standard CFD tools like FUN3D and Star-CCM+, including use of HPC clusters

Nice to haves but not required:  

• 10+ years relevant experience across 2 or more program lifecycles
• Experience with thermal protection system sizing & analysis using standard tools like FIAT, CHAR, MINIVER, or LAURA
• Exposure to aerothermal wind tunnel and flight testing and instrumentation

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

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.

The below-range represents Relativity Space’s current good-faith pay scale for this role.  Relativity Space reserves the right to modify or update this range at any time.

Compensation is only one part of our entire total rewards package. To see some of the benefits & perks we offer, please visit here: https://px.sequoia.com/relativityspace/

Hiring Range:

$127,000—$163,000 USD