Senior Recovery Certification and Operations Engineer

Senior Recovery Certification and Operations Engineer

Cape Canaveral, Florida

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.

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  collaborate with teams across the company, including Terran R designers, launch pad builders and rocket engine testers!

• 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.

• 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,…