Senior Avionics Test Systems Engineer, HITL

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 team is responsible for the full lifecycle of Terran R’s nervous system, designing, building, testing, installing, and operating the hardware that connects and controls every major electrical system on the vehicle and ground. The team leverages close partnership between avionics design, manufacturing, and test to enable rapid iteration and feedback loops. Engineers are deeply embedded into other functions within Relativity, working closely with propulsion, GNC, fluids, and stage engineering teams to ensure seamless integration and operation. Now is a unique time to join: you’ll get to help shape Terran R's fundamental avionics architecture and be given a high degree of ownership on components that will fly.

About the Role:

As an Avionics Test Systems Engineer, HITL at Relativity Space, you will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) testbeds for avionics subsystems. This will involve working closely with the avionics and flight software teams to understand their testing needs and develop appropriate test systems. You will also be responsible for designing the HITL test infrastructure, maintaining configuration of the HITL platform, developing validation procedures, and providing feedback to design teams and system integration.

• Design and build a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) testbed to conduct vehicle mission simulations

• Collaborate with hardware and software engineers to derive simulation platform requirements

• Oversee the integration of Avionics electrical systems, simulation hardware and software, and auxiliary support equipment

• Support vehicle troubleshooting and validate changes by creating and executing integrated testing on HITL

• Develop, document, and execute Avionics system verification/validation plans

About You:

• Undergraduate or graduate degree (BS/MS/PhD) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field

• 5+ years of experience with complex system design and architecture

• Familiarity with data acquisition and control system platforms such as NI, Beckhoff, or similar

• Experience working with electronics test equipment such as power supplies, DMMs, oscilloscopes, signal generators, and electronic loads

• Understanding of engineering requirements capture and the verification/validation test planning process

• Familiarity with common communication protocols such as Ethernet, CAN, UART, SPI, etc.

• Familiarity with scripting languages such as Python or MATLAB for data acquisition/recording and analysis

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills

Nice to haves but not required:

• Wire harness design experience

• Electronics design experience

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:
$159,000—$204,000 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 [email protected].