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, youre not just executing tasks; youre 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:

Relativity Space’s legal team is small, nimble, and entrepreneurial: a startup within a startup. Our team is responsible for identifying and managing risks across the organization to ensure Relativity is adequately protected through its rapid growth. Our legal team manages employment, litigation, intellectual property, contracts, and compliance, among other responsibilities. Unique to Relativity’s fast-paced startup environment, our team has broad exposure to the business has frequent opportunities to work cross functionally to support Relativity’s ambitious goals.

As the second member of the Employment Legal Team and reporting into Relativity Space’s Assistant General Counsel and Head of Employee Relations, the Senior Counsel, Employment, will be a strategic partner to Relativity’s People Team and other business stakeholders. The ideal candidate will work cross-functionally with the People team and the business to advise on all legal aspects of the employee lifecycle while also creating scalable employment policies, processes, templates, and training. We are looking for a strategic thinker with an entrepreneurial mindset who can take into account the business implications of legal decisions.

About the Role:

We are looking for significant California and federal employment law experience. While the position is a hybrid role preferred in our Long Beach, California locations, candidates within commutable distance to our Cape Canaveral, Florida and Stennis, Mississippi physical locations are encouraged to apply. A fully remote option is not available with this role.

Provide pro-active advice and counsel to the People Team and business in various areas of employment law, including but not limited to: performance management, hiring, wage and hour, terminations, adverse actions, leave management, safety, compensation, employee mobility, contractor/temporary worker management, and diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI).
Provide additional support and/or advice to the Employee Relations function on investigations, employment complaints and misconduct, and HR compliance activities, including but not limited to employee handbook updates and OFCCP compliance.
Draft, revise, and negotiate employment-related agreements (including offer letters, contingent worker/independent contractor agreements, confidentiality and intellectual property agreements, and separation agreements).
Develop and conduct company-wide and department-specific employment training, education and tools.
Undertake project-based work cross-functionally to enhance company-wide employment law compliance.
Support the development of HR processes, policies and procedures to keep pace with necessary growth and scaling.

About You:

JD and membership in good standing with at least one US State Bar (CA Bar preferred)
You will have at least 8+ years of relevant employment experience, combined at a law firm and in-house.
In-house start-up experience within fast-paced, high impact environments, such as within tech, is highly preferred
Comprehensive and deep knowledge of California and federal employment law.
You are a self-starter with a flexible growth mind-set and are able to act quickly, and prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced, high-growth environment and handle ambiguity with ease.
You are pragmatic and have strong communication skills where you can distill complex legal concepts into simple, practical advice while providing education to stakeholders.

Nice to haves but not required:

Experience with HR compliance.
Experience working in or with the aerospace industry.
Experience doing substantially employment advice and counsel.
Experience and understanding of cross-over areas beyond employment such as ethics and compliance or intellectual property.

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:

$189,000—$241,000 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.