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Head of Avionics Manufacturing

Relativity Space · Long Beach, CA

Level
Director+
Team
Manufacturing
Degree
Required
Industry
Aerospace & defense
Posted
25 days ago

The role in 30 seconds

A director-level manufacturing role at Relativity Space (aerospace & defense) in Long Beach, CA. Build, lead, and develop a multi-layered organization of manufacturing leaders spanning manufacturing engineering, functional/environmental test, and production operations.

They ask for
degree required
Tools it names
Lean, Six Sigma, Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), Automation, Painting / coating, Capacity planning

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026

Manufacturing Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $114k–$167k.

Median of the low and high ends of 117 live postings that list pay, out of 320 manufacturing engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.

California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →

How this role compares

Against 319 other live manufacturing postings in California.

Base pay
Not listed in this posting

Typical $111k–$157k, from 105 postings that list pay.

Experience asked
Not stated

Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.

Skills these teams ask for most

  • ✓ Tooling 53%
  • ✓ New product launch 51%
  • Root cause 40%
  • ✓ Automation 35%
  • Machining 29%
  • CATIA / NX 29%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

Stands out: this posting asks for Painting / coating, Capacity planning, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.

At a glance

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

  1. 1

    Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at Relativity Space

    We found 9 people at this company and state: 7 in this kind of role, 2 leaders. Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. See them ↓

  2. 2

    Send a short, curious note

    One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.

    Write to Piunik → (free)
  3. 3

    Turn a reply into a short call

    Questions worth asking about this team:

    • What does a normal week look like on your team?
    • Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
    • How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
    • How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
  4. 4

    Apply with someone vouching for you

    If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.

  5. 5

    Bring proof to the interview

    One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

This plant: Relativity Space in Long Beach

65 other open roles at this site · 9 people we found in manufacturing roles at Relativity Space.

All 66 roles at Relativity Space →
Full description from Relativity SpaceAs posted on their careers site.Show

About the Role

We're looking for a senior leader to own the strategy, organization, and delivery of avionics manufacturing across the Terran R program. This is a step beyond running a production floor — you'll define the multi-year manufacturing strategy for avionics hardware, build and lead an organization of manufacturing leaders (not just individual contributors), and be a primary voice in company-level conversations about production readiness, capacity, and risk.

You'll partner directly with executive leadership across Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, and Program Management to ensure avionics manufacturing scales in step with the broader vehicle program — and you'll be accountable for translating factory-floor reality into the kind of forward-looking, risk-adjusted narrative that shapes company-level decisions.

What You'll Own

Show full description ↓

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 Avionics Manufacturing organization builds and tests the electronic systems that power, control, and connect every aspect of Terran R — from flight computers and sensors to wiring and integrated avionics assemblies. As we push toward first flight and beyond, this team sits at the intersection of hardware, software, and operations, and is transitioning from development into full-rate production while raising the bar on reliability, cycle time, and cross-program alignment.

Strategy & Organization

  • •Set the multi-year strategy for avionics manufacturing — capacity planning, make/buy decisions, automation roadmap, and organizational design — in direct partnership with VP/executive stakeholders
  • •Build, lead, and develop a multi-layered organization of manufacturing leaders spanning manufacturing engineering, functional/environmental test, and production operations
  • •Represent avionics manufacturing in company-wide program reviews, translating production data into risk exposure, timeline confidence, and resourcing recommendations for executive audiences

Delivery

  • •Own the end-to-end manufacturing and test roadmap for all avionics hardware — from process development and test infrastructure through full-rate production and vehicle integration readiness
  • •Drive the transition from development to high-rate production while improving reliability, reducing cycle time, and holding the line on yield and quality targets
  • •Set and hold your organization accountable to schedule, yield, and quality commitments, using data to surface risk early rather than after it becomes a program-level problem

Cross-Functional Leadership

  • •Drive alignment across design engineering, test engineering, systems engineering, vehicle integration, supply chain, and quality to ensure avionics hardware is manufacturable, testable, and deliverable at rate
  • •Champion automation, digital production tooling, and lean practices as strategic levers — not just floor-level fixes — to improve throughput and ensure traceability and compliance at scale
  • •Build the muscle for proactive escalation: surfacing anomalies and risks to leadership before they cascade, not after

About You

  • •5 + years in progressive leadership roles — ideally with experience leading other manufacturing leaders/managers, not just individual contributors
  • •Proven track record owning complex electro-mechanical manufacturing and test operations at the organizational level — PCBAs, wire harnesses, integrated avionics units
  • •Demonstrated ability to operate at both altitudes: fluent enough in electronics manufacturing process (PCB assembly, conformal coating, potting, ESD protocols, wire harness fabrication) to make good calls fast, and strategic enough to set multi-year direction and influence executive decisions
  • •Experience building and scaling a manufacturing organization through a volume ramp — from development-rate to high-rate production
  • •A track record of leading through ambiguity and aggressive, shifting timelines, and communicating that reality clearly to executive stakeholders
  • •Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field

Nice to Have

  • +Experience with spaceflight avionics testing and standards (SMC-S-016, MIL-STD-810, RCC-319/324 or equivalents)
  • +Familiarity with electronics manufacturing standards (IPC-610, IPC-J-STD-001 Space Addendum, IPC/WHMA-A-620) and PCB line operations
  • +Experience standing up new production or test lines from scratch — equipment selection, layout, staffing, and process validation
  • +Lean/Six Sigma leadership experience applied at the organizational (not just line) level
  • +Experience with high-voltage lithium-ion battery assembly manufacturing

At Relativity Space, we are committed to transparency and fairness in our compensation practices. Actual com

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