Aerospace Medicine Specialist

BLUE ORIGIN•El Paso, TX

10d•$202,331 - $299,147

About The Position

The Aerospace Medicine Specialist is part of Blue Origin’s Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering (ACE) team and provides expert guidance on astronaut health and medical engineering to support vehicle design and development. The role contributes to astronaut-interface design, operational products such as emergency response procedures, and clinical standards of care for commercial astronauts and client flight crews before, during, and after missions. The position spans aerospace medicine, biomedical engineering, flight control operations, space-radiation analysis, research operations and integration, and behavioral health and performance. The specialist works across programs to ensure medical expertise influences design, operations, and company strategy; develops and represents health and medical standards; identifies human-spaceflight risks and mitigations; and develops countermeasures that support crew health, safety, and performance. The role also supports Mission and Flight Operations, including flight-controller certification and crew launch and recovery operations.

Requirements

For the physician path: M.D. or D.O. from an accredited institution.
For the physician path: Active and unrestricted state medical license; relevant medical board complaints are subject to review.
For the physician path: Aerospace Medicine Board Certification or board-eligible status.
For the physician path: Continuous clinical practice in a specialty field within the past two years.
For the senior biomedical engineer path: Bachelor's degree or higher in engineering, such as biomedical, aerospace, or mechanical engineering, or a closely related field.
For the senior biomedical engineer path: Experience supporting human-spaceflight programs, such as NASA, DoD, or commercial spaceflight.
For the senior biomedical engineer path: Demonstrated technical expertise in health- or medical-related engineering within spaceflight or operationally relevant extreme-environment contexts.
Health and medical human-spaceflight operational experience, particularly associated with Low Earth Orbit and/or exploration-class vehicles and habitats.
Working knowledge of health and medical countermeasures to combat physiological deconditioning, maintain crew health, and mitigate spaceflight-associated risks.
Understanding of human health impacts in extreme environments, including hyper/hypobaric environments and prehospital and remote medicine.
Familiarity with life-support systems required for human survival in space.
Expertise in astronaut and ground-crew emergency response across different phases of flight.
Experience writing and evaluating system requirements and verifications.
Ability to identify, evaluate, and develop new space technologies and procedures.

Nice To Haves

For physicians: Active and unencumbered medical license to practice in Washington, Florida, Texas, or Alabama.
Advanced operational experience with NASA, DoD, or commercial human-spaceflight programs.
Experience as a certified flight controller or in an equivalent Mission Operations capacity.
Prior experience developing or contributing to human-spaceflight medical standards, policies, or regulatory frameworks.

Responsibilities

Support the Chief Medical Officer and engineering teams in developing health, medical, and human-performance vehicle design, ConOps deliverables, and risk assessments; advance company strategies and goals; and collaborate on company-wide requirements.
Identify and respond to company needs, engaging across programs so health and medical expertise influences vehicle design, operations, and organizational strategy.
Develop, implement, and represent Blue Origin health and medical standards and strategy in internal and cross-company forums, public forums, and engagements with external partners.
Own and develop technical data and deliverables, including health- and medically-related requirements and ConOps documents.
Identify human-spaceflight risks associated with vehicle and operational-concept development, and develop mitigations and strategies to prevent or minimize those risks.
Develop, test, and deliver countermeasures that may affect crew health, safety, or performance during or after spaceflight missions.
Identify and evaluate medical risks and requirements associated with low Earth orbit, microgravity, hypogravity, and deep-space exploration operations.
Develop clinical standards of care defining direct-care protocols for commercial astronauts and client flight crews before, during, and after missions.
Advise business units and special programs on astronaut health and safety to help ensure human-rating standards are achieved.
Certify as a flight controller and serve as a subject matter expert in support of Mission and Flight Operations.
Support crew launch and recovery operations.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
Basic and supplemental life insurance.
Paid parental leave.
Short- and long-term disability coverage.
401(k) with company match of up to 5%.
Education Support Program.
Stock options for regular employees working at least 20 hours per week.
Paid time off of up to four weeks per year, based on weekly scheduled hours.
Up to 14 company-paid holidays.
Depending on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on individual contributions or other factors; amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed.