Senior Fluid Systems Engineer
Relativity Space
Long Beach, CA · $132k–$198k a year · Posted August 25, 2026
Just laid off? Start here: a plan for the first weeks
See every open role at Relativity Space
More in California job market · Manufacturing & Industrial · Engineering jobs
More roles at Relativity Space
- Principal Turbomachinery Engineer, Turbine Development
- Staff Assembly, Integration & Test (AIT) Engineer · Long Beach, CA
- Staff Software Engineer, Storage Platform · Long Beach, CA
- Staff Software Engineer, Agentic Infrastructure · Long Beach, CA
- Director, Benefits & Wellness · Long Beach, CA
- Staff Technical Program Manager, Tooling & Automation · Long Beach, CA
Similar jobs
- Performance Engineer, Hardware · River AI · Palo Alto, CA
- Staff Power Systems Engineer · Anduril Industries · Costa Mesa, CA
- Senior Staff Distributed Systems Engineer · Ionq · Santa Clara, CA
- Senior Distributed Systems Engineer · Ionq · Santa Clara, CA
- CoDesign & NextGen Performance Engineer · Cerebras Systems · Sunnyvale, CA
- Power Systems Engineer (Starship Avionics) · SpaceX · Hawthorne, CA
Where Long Beach, CA ranks
Where Long Beach, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #2Best all-round cities for new graduates72 / 100 · of 100
- #2Best all-round cities for new graduates in the West Coast72 / 100 · of 39
- #3Cities that post pay most often53% · of 100
- #7Cities hosting the most business conferences in the West Coast8 conferences · of 17
- #8Best cities for manufacturing and industrial pay after cost of living$140k · of 35
- #11Cities with the most jobs that need no experience in the West Coast1.1% · of 66
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
How AI is used in this kind of work
AI use among engineers, all other is little observed so far. Measured exposure for engineers, all other: 7% (little observed).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Skills this job asks for
Say which you have and which you want to build. We use it to match you to jobs like this one.
About the job
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 Stage Fluids team designs and delivers the propellant, pressurant, pneumatics, and other fluid systems that turn structures into functioning rockets. The team has full ownership across design, production, test, and flight, maintaining a holistic view of Terran R, focused not on isolated parts but integrated functionality. Working on-site at the factory means you’re never far from the hardware, enabling rapid iteration and tight feedback loops across design and manufacturing. You won’t just be handed requirements: you’ll be expected to ask the right questions, collaborate with partners across the company, and ultimately find the best solutions for Terran R.
About the Role:
As a Vehicle Fluid Systems Engineer, you will be responsible for the fluid system architecture and function for a given vehicle fluid subsystem. You will apply expertise in system architecture, systems operations, and fluid thermodynamics applications to guide hardware design, system analysis, manufacturing, validation and operations.
• Own the vehicle fluid subsystem architecture and schematics, including system control scheme, system and component selection and sizing • Conducting fluid and thermal analyses, including system sizing and characterization using a variety of base analytical methods (1D steady-state, fluid networks, etc.) • Leading and participating in system and hardware design and manufacturing reviews • Defining and supporting test objectives and test campaigns to validate system design, system models and overall system performance including supporting integrated vehicle testing and launch
About You: • Bachelor’s degree (Mechanical Engineering or relevant) • 4+ years of experience working with fluids systems • Experience applying engineering fundamentals in system design, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and heat transfer • Experience with one or more fluid or thermal modeling tools for internal compressible and incompressible analysis • Proficiency in Python or a similar programing language for scientific computing and automated test/simulation data analysis
Nice to haves, but not required: • Experience with launch vehicles and spacecraft
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: $132,000 — $198,000 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 .
Please note: Relativity Space does not accept unsolicited resumes, candidate profiles, or referrals from recruitment agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited submission - via email, our website, social media, or directly to an employee - will be deemed the property of Relativity Space, and no fee will be owed absent a current, fully executed agreement with Talent Acquisition that specifically authorizes submissions for the applicable role.