Staff Avionics Systems Engineer

About the Team: 

The Interplanetary Sciences Program was established to expand access to scientific exploration across our solar system. Its mission is to make planetary research faster more affordable and more capable than ever before by rethinking how science missions are designed built and operated. The program aims to enable scientists to send instruments to distant worlds without decades of development or prohibitive costs. By creating a sustainable model for interplanetary exploration we are transforming space science from an occasional event into a continuous process of discovery that accelerates knowledge broadens participation and inspires the next generation of explorers.

About the Role:

As the Staff Avionics Systems Engineer within the Interplanetary Program you will own revolutionizing the next generation of in-space compute and storage capability by leveraging the latest terrestrial technologies and challenging the status quo of how high-capability compute and storage are done in the space sector.

You will be responsible for delivering fully functional space-ready compute units to the flight spacecraft as well as setting up ground-based hardware twins for hardware in the loop and terrestrial based compute capability. You will be working closely with the science team to maximize capability by balancing the compute (CPU GPU TPU etc..) memory storage needs with the technical constraints of the flight spacecraft (power thermal EMI mechanical etc…). This role will also work closely in conjunction with the software team to bring up the core software infrastructure both on the spacecraft and on the ground side and iterating with the software team to ensure the full compute system operates as intended in all environments.

This role will be a high responsibility high autonomy and high accountability role within a fast-paced iterative environment where rapid prototyping early testing and continuous learning are key to success. You’ll lead hands-on development campaigns to evaluate key technologies derisk interfaces and validate performance before full system integration. You’ll also work across internal and external teams to turn concepts into hardware balancing agility and rigor as you move quickly from analysis to prototypes to flight-ready systems.

About You:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering Physics or a related technical field
• 7+ years designing and delivering digital compute-centric electronic systems
• Proven experience leading design and delivery of complex electrical systems including RF and compute-heavy projects
• Hands-on work with challenging thermal and electromechanical environments
• Strong grasp of systems engineering interface management and risk management principles for complex programs
• Excellent technical communication problem-solving and cross-disciplinary collaboration skills

Nice to haves but not required:  

• Direct architecture or EE design experience with non-volatile storage mobile compute and/or server class computing is a plus
• Experience with compute and storage survivability in space and radiation environments is a plus
  

What We Do

Relativity Space is on a mission to better connect humanity to space and the universe beyond our planet. Our medium-to-heavy lift reusable rocket Terran R 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.

Why Work With Us

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.

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