Relativity Space · 15 hours ago
Director, Build Quality Engineering
Long Beach, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$209K/yr - $268K/yr
10+ years expRelativity Space is building rockets to meet the growing demand for launch capacity and advance science and exploration. The Director of Build Quality Engineering will define the reliability vision and strategy, manage complex failure analysis, and oversee qualification testing to ensure product reliability and quality as the company scales.
3D TechnologyAerospaceArtificial Intelligence (AI)Manufacturing
Responsibilities
Define the overarching reliability vision and strategy, aligning build-quality objectives with broader business outcomes and product roadmaps
Design the organizational structure, talent pipeline, and succession strategy for Build Reliability as the company scales, fostering ownership, technical rigor, and data-driven decision-making
Manage complex failure analysis using Fault Tree process for critical manufacturing and field failures, ensuring long-term corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) are validated to prevent recurrence
Integrate Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and predictive modeling into early-stage designs to identify risks before production begins
Partner with NPI (New Product Introduction), Supply Chain, and Operations to resolve reliability issues and influence supplier quality
Define and own the reliability KPI framework such as Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), Escapes to next operations and/or first-pass yield to provide actionable insights to executive leadership
Oversee rigorous qualification testing, including Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) and environmental stress screening, to validate product lifespan and reliability targets
Own major risk escalation and resolution as final accountability and trade-off authority, guiding disciplined problem solving (e.g., 8D) and ensuring rapid recovery on quality or capacity issues
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Aerospace, Industrial, or a related technical field)
10+ years of experience in Supplier Industrialization, Supplier Development, or Manufacturing Engineering, ideally within the aerospace or a high-reliability/safety-critical industry with demonstrated ownership of complex, cross-functional systems at scale
5+ years of direct people management experience, including coaching, mentorship, and performance management of an engineering team
Proven ability to influence senior leaders and peers across Engineering, Operations, and Supply Chain without direct authority
Expert knowledge of quality systems (AS9100/ISO 9001) and core quality tools (APQP, PPAP, FAIRs, PFMEA, Control Plans), with a proven ability to influence the implementation and compliance of key quality initiatives
Demonstrated capability to build processes from the ground up and successfully deploy them across diverse teams
Willingness to travel up to 50% of the work week when needed
Preferred
Master's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Aerospace, Industrial, or a related technical field)
Professional certification such as Six Sigma Black Belt, ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE), or PMP
Familiarity with high-volume inspection methods and data-driven acceptance methods
Strong knowledge of enterprise applications (i.e., PLM, ERP, MES) and proficient in data analysis
Comfortable operating in high ambiguity, setting direction where precedent or data is incomplete
Company
Relativity Space
Relativity Space is an aerospace company that designs, develops, and builds 3D printed rockets.
1001-5000 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$1.36BKey Investors
FidelityTiger Global ManagementBond,Tribe Capital
2023-11-15Series F· $20M
2022-02-03Secondary Market
2021-06-08Series E· $650M
Leadership Team
Eric Schmidt
CEO
David Giger
VP of Engineering
Recent News
Research & Development World
2025-12-24
2025-11-14
2025-11-12
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