Spacecraft Responsible 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 Spacecraft Responsible Engineer within the Interplanetary Sciences Program at Relativity Space, you will own the end-to-end definition, integration, and delivery of the spacecraft bus and its interaction with mission payloads. You will serve as the technical and programmatic focal point ensuring that spacecraft-level requirements, interfaces, and performance budgets (power, mass, thermal, comm, etc.) are properly defined, tracked, and met throughout the mission lifecycle.

You’ll collaborate across internal teams and with external spacecraft bus providers to ensure mission success, from design and procurement through integration, test, launch, and operations. This position blends systems engineering, vendor management, and hands-on mission execution, offering a high degree of ownership and impact.

About You:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline
• 7+ years of experience in spacecraft or satellite systems engineering, integration, or mission design
• Proven ability to manage complex systems multiple vendors and customers
• Strong understanding of spacecraft subsystems (power, thermal, comms, ADCS, propulsion, etc.) and their interdependencies
• Experience leading cross-functional teams through integration and test, launch campaigns, or mission operations
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and leadership skills with the ability to interface across technical and programmatic boundaries

Nice to haves but not required:  

• Experience with end-to-end mission development, including payload-to-spacecraft integration
• Familiarity with NASA or commercial spacecraft systems engineering processes in an applied / New-Space manner is a plus
• Experience supporting launch and early operations of spacecraft missions
• Prior work with deep-space or interplanetary spacecraft systems