Staff Robotics Automation & Controls Systems Engineer
$150k - $207k USD
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.
About the Team:
The Tooling and Factory Automation team sits at the intersection of design, manufacturing, and automation, making everything from large-scale structural fixtures to small tools that directly enable Terran R’s production. As a design group embedded within the manufacturing organization, we dig deep into the needs of our internal partners to understand root problems, propose solutions, and deliver hardware to help build faster, scale smarter, and work better. The team is also at the forefront of Relativity’s growing factory automation efforts, an increasingly critical part of scaling production of Terran R at existing and future facilities. You’ll have the autonomy to make decisions, field solutions, and see them in action on the factory floor. Ultimately, you’re not just designing tools or automated processes; you’re defining how rockets and factories get built.
About the Role:
As a Factory Automation & Controls Engineer, you will be responsible for contributing to the technical leadership of a growing team that is dedicated to building and expanding factory automation within the manufacturing organization. The projects you work on will provide solutions across the factory ranging from quick turn interim development setups to large permanent infrastructure. You will work in collaboration with mechanical, manufacturing, and design engineers to develop solutions tailored to a broad range of applications and manufacturing processes. Once your hardware is built, you will also own implementation, working closely with technicians, operators, and end users - including writing and debugging control software.
Your projects will span a variety of construction methods, sizes, and applications. These could include anything from simple data displays to large multi axis motion control equipment. The kinds of projects you will work on may include:
- Robotic-based welding, fabrication, and inspection equipment
- Large scale multi-axis tooling systems
- Architecting factory automation solutions to improve speed, quality, reliability and efficiency in the manufacturing process
About You:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or a related field
- 12+ experience with programming Fanuc, Kuka or similar robotics control systems with motion planning, task allocation, and synchronization algorithms for multi-robot systems
- Experience writing (IEC 61131), developing, activating, and troubleshooting PLCs (Beckhoff, Siemens, AB Rockwell)
- Demonstrated ability to design and implement industrial safety systems including risk assessments, job hazard analysis, and programming safety PLCs
- Demonstrated ability to identify and mitigate technical risks in complex systems
- Experience producing exceptional electrical and pneumatics schematics and work instructions
Nice to haves but not required:
- Proficiency with communications protocols such as, but not limited to, EtherCAT, OPCUA, MQTT, ProfiNET, Ethernet IP, and CANbus.
- Knowledge of robotic weld systems: understanding of robotic welding systems and processes, including programming weld paths, optimizing parameters, and ensuring weld quality. Experience with weld seam tracking through arc voltage control, vision, or line scanner.
- Experience with Zuken E3
- Proficiency with Offline Robotic Programming software, such as Fanuc RoboGuide, WorkVisual, or RoboDK
At Relativity Space, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation practices. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors.
Compensation is only one part of our total rewards package. Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, a generous PTO and sick leave policy, parental leave, an annual learning and development stipend, and more! To see some of the benefits & perks we offer, please visit here.
Hiring Range:
$150,000—$207,000 USD
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.
If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact us at accommodations@relativityspace.com.