Engineer – Manufacturing Sr

BLUE ORIGIN • Seattle, WA

20h • $134,434 - $188,207

About The Position

Blue Origin is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to serve as the Manufacturing Engineering subject matter expert for its new Electric Propulsion program. The Electric Propulsion Production Team will transition Electric Propulsion Thruster variants from design into high-rate production. This high-visibility, high-impact role reports directly to the Director of Operations and will set manufacturing standards, develop processes, tooling, and procedures, and build the team's manufacturing engineering capability.

The role leads manufacturing engineering support for production-line standup, from pilot through high-rate production; drives design for manufacturability and assembly; develops and qualifies processes; and establishes scalable process controls and quality gates. The engineer provides technical leadership, mentors other engineers, resolves complex manufacturing problems using first-principles and materials-level analysis, and works across Design Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Operations, Technicians, and Industrial Engineers. The role also leads manufacturing automation strategy and implementation, including development and deployment of AI-assisted manufacturing and engineering tools.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Aerospace, or Materials Science Engineering from an accredited university.
• At least 8 years of direct manufacturing engineering experience in production or development-to-production environments.
• At least 5 years of experience authoring work instructions and managing manufacturing BOMs for complex hardware.
• Hands-on experience manufacturing propulsion or aerospace hardware.
• Ability to provide assertive design-for-manufacturability feedback and drive design changes in a cross-functional environment.
• Ability to analyze complex manufacturing failures and identify first-principles and materials-level root causes.
• Experience across multiple manufacturing domains, including precision assembly, welding, machining, and fluid or propulsion systems.
• Experience supporting or leading new product introduction and transition-to-production efforts.
• Experience leading or executing the standup of an automated manufacturing line or cell.
• Ability to mentor and improve the technical capability of other engineers.
• U.S. citizenship or nationality, U.S. permanent residency, or lawful admission to the U.S. as a refugee or grant of asylum is required for export-control compliance.

Nice To Haves

• Materials science background or demonstrated ability to apply materials-level thinking to manufacturing process development and failure analysis.
• Experience developing or deploying AI-assisted manufacturing tools, such as vision inspection, predictive quality, or process optimization.
• Experience using AI productivity tools to accelerate engineering workflows and develop that capability in others.
• Experience with Hall-Effect Thrusters, Gridded Ion Engines, or similar electric propulsion system assembly and integration.
• Experience with ceramic, ferromagnetic alloy, or refractory metal machining and manufacturing processes for aerospace applications.
• Experience with thruster hot-fire vacuum acceptance testing.
• Experience machining additively manufactured parts, including post-processing, fixturing, and tolerance management.
• Background in rocket engine or propulsion system manufacturing, including liquid, electric, or cold gas thrusters.
• Experience at a high-velocity aerospace manufacturer where speed, decisiveness, and waste elimination are cultural norms.
• Lean Six Sigma certification at Green Belt level or higher.
• Proficiency in CAD software, preferably Creo or CATIA, and PLM/MRP systems such as Windchill, Teamcenter, or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Manufacturing Engineering subject matter expert across the Electric Propulsion value stream.
• Establish and enforce manufacturing best practices, mentor manufacturing engineers, and raise the technical capability of the organization.
• Promote speed, decisiveness, first-principles thinking, and elimination of waste; identify and eliminate unnecessary processes before optimizing others.
• Represent Manufacturing Engineering in program forums, design reviews, and leadership readouts.
• Act as the technical escalation point for complex manufacturing problems and identify root physical and materials-level causes.
• Provide assertive, data-backed design-for-manufacturability feedback and drive producibility improvements that reduce cost and cycle time.
• Engage early in the design lifecycle to influence hardware and lead DFM/DFA reviews.
• Lead manufacturing engineering support for the Electric Propulsion production-line standup from pilot to high-rate production.
• Define production processes, write work instructions, establish tooling and fixturing, and own manufacturing readiness for the value stream.
• Lead, execute, or assist with standup of manufacturing cells or lines as the program scales.
• Review, approve, and elevate work involving work instructions, manufacturing BOMs, and process documentation.
• Develop, document, and qualify manufacturing processes for Electric Propulsion Thruster components and assemblies.
• Develop robust processes for precision assembly, machining, joining, and propulsion subsystems using first-principles and materials-level thinking.
• Apply lean principles to eliminate non-value-added work at its root.
• Establish process controls, quality gates, and inspection plans that scale with production increases.
• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for non-conformances, conduct FMEAs, and feed lessons learned into design and process baselines.
• Collaborate with Design Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Operations on producibility, cost efficiency, and schedule alignment.
• Work with Technicians and Industrial Engineers on the production floor to solve problems and transfer manufacturing knowledge.
• Partner with Supply Chain on make-or-buy decisions and develop and qualify suppliers for critical manufacturing processes.
• Lead identification, strategy development, and implementation of manufacturing automation.
• Drive automation from concept through commissioning, either directly or by overseeing implementation through others.
• Develop and deploy AI-assisted manufacturing tools, including vision-based inspection, predictive quality analytics, and process optimization algorithms.
• Use AI productivity tools to accelerate engineering analysis, troubleshooting, and documentation, and build the team's capability with AI-enabled engineering.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Basic and supplemental life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Short- and long-term disability
• 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
• Potential eligibility for benefits and bonuses based on role type and job level; amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior