Mechanical Engineering Manager jobs in Torrance, CA

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 Manufacturing department is building the factory of the future. Disrupting over 60 years of aerospace manufacturing, this team has a wide variety of responsibilities—from determining the most efficient factory floor layout, to defining CONOPS, to designing and implementing tooling to support volume Production. Unique to Relativity, you will get to work across many teams to iterate and support Relativity's first-of-its-kind 3D printing software and robotics technology.

The Manufacturing department at Relativity Space pulls together the efforts of all other vehicle and production teams to deliver flight-ready vehicles for test and launch. The Mechanical Engineers are responsible for the design and development of tools and equipment that support manufacturing. The Mechanical Engineering team works closely with Additive Development and Manufacturing, turning top-level requirements and concepts into functional detailed designs. The Mechanical Engineering team brings a high level of innovation and ingenuity into the design process, as they are tasked with building out a highly-automated Production facility.

We are looking for a driven Mechanical Engineering leader to spearhead tooling design and development. You will own the relationship between the engineering development and production teams. The success of Relativity depends on the quality, reliability, cost, manufacturability, throughput, safety, and user experience of the products that you deliver.  

What you’ll do: 

• Be the head of Mechanical Engineering (Tooling) for the company.
• Lead a highly talented team of Mechanical Engineers responsible for the design, analysis, fabrication, and implementation of manufacturing support equipment and tooling.
• Be accountable for the successful introduction and commissioning of Terran-R’s manufacturing tooling and support equipment. This will involve project managing internally amongst the RE, ME, Supply Chain, and Production teams. In addition, this will be a highly external-facing role focused on vendor management.
• Define and drive the Tooling strategy for Relativity—both in NPI and to support volume production of Terran-R.
• Own and manage the Tooling queue, budget, and schedule for the department.
• Oversee the design and execution of quality development and production tooling for the Terran R vehicle and Aeon R engine programs.
• Be capable of integrating concepts and principles of mechanical design and analysis of several different projects in a fast-paced environment, as projects will vary in size and scale.
• Be able to interpret and apply sound design and drafting standards (ASME Y14.5) in reviewing tooling drawings.
• Handle a wide range of technical problems and be familiar with all types of material handling, assembly fixtures, off-loaders, rotisseries, test fixtures, structural weldments, environmental chambers, and custom machines.
• Close collaboration with component designers, manufacturing engineers, and integration engineering to achieve the best possible cradle to grave metrics (safety, cost, quality, cycle time, delivery, reliability, life, and maintenance/refurbishment).
• Drive the development of process CONOPS and requirements alongside manufacturing engineering partners. Flow process CONOPS down to tooling requirements and capabilities.
• Manage projects including vendor selection, fabrication, inspection, equipment installation, and commissioning of tooling.
• Interface with vendor tooling design teams to ensure mutual design compatibility and assist the manufacturing and supply chain teams to manage vendor design and procurement schedules and technical blockers, along with internal procurement schedules and technical blockers.
• Build, develop, and structure the Mechanical Engineering team through hiring, mentorship, and a constant feedback loop.
• Be able to work in a team environment effectively. All designs are the collective effort of the team. 

What you need to know:  

• A successful candidate will typically have a B.S. degree in any Engineering discipline from an accredited institution
• 5 years of direct experience designing, building, and commissioning tooling and fixtures for manufacturing, assembly, and test
• 2 years of direct management experience, preferably in a Mechanical, Launch, or Tooling department
• Experience using CAD and FEA-based analysis software (NX and ANSYS Workbench preferred) for structural applications
• Experience designing tooling for one or more of: weld fixtures, machining fixtures, mechanical assembly fixtures, drill jigs, automated machinery
• Experience managing scope of large projects, including schedule and budget ownership
• Experience working with vendors and contributing to management of vendor performance
• Experience working within cross-functional teams of manufacturing engineers, supply chain managers, vehicle design engineers, and tooling engineers

Nice to haves but not required:  

• Experience with Friction Stir Welding
• Experience mentoring less experienced tooling engineers
• Experience interviewing for tooling engineering roles
• Experience with structural analysis including the ability to perform hand calculations
• Strong expertise in design for manufacturability and design for assembly including experience taking products from prototype design to production
• Solid understanding of common manufacturing materials, GD&T, and tolerance/stack-up analysis
• Solid understanding of common manufacturing processes and machines including mills, lathes, welding, sheet-metal bending, lifting/rigging, assembly, inspection, etc.  
• Experience with custom machine design: motors, actuators, linear rails/actuators, pneumatics, bearings, etc.  
• Experience with Siemens NX and Teamcenter PLM software 
• Experience with ANSYS Workbench, FEMAP Pre/Post processing, NASTRAN Solver, NX Advance Simulation, Mechanica, etc. 

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.