Lead Configuration Engineer – Lunar Vehicles

BLUE ORIGIN•West Melbourne, WA

1d•$145,188 - $203,263

About The Position

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight! This role is part of the Lunar Permanence business unit, which develops Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landers and related products. To further Blue Origin's mission of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth, we are building sustainable infrastructure for our transport of crew and cargo from Earth to the lunar surface. We are looking for a Senior Configuration Engineer to help shape the next-generation architecture of the MK1 Cargo Lander. This role sits at the intersection of deep technical design knowledge and configuration ownership: you'll drive cross-disciplinary trade studies that define the long-term evolution of the vehicle, while also owning the configuration baseline and integration integrity of the current MK1 design. This role spans the full lifecycle of the vehicle's design: you'll apply a strong working knowledge of vehicle design, structures, mechanical systems, and/or cryogenic upper stage architecture to lead trades on the next-gen MK1 — balancing technology improvement, cost reduction, and manufacturing realities against what already exists and flies today. At the same time, you'll maintain rigorous configuration management discipline over the current vehicle, ensuring that today's design changes, ECRs, and baselines are coherent, traceable, and feed forward into the long-term architecture plan rather than undermining it. You'll operate as a senior technical authority and informal leader across the integrated team — setting technical direction, mentoring engineers, and driving consensus across Structures, Fluids, Thermal, GN&C, Avionics, and Manufacturing stakeholders.

Requirements

B.S. degree in engineering (Aerospace, Mechanical, or related discipline) and 10+ years of experience in spacecraft or launch vehicle mechanical design, configuration, and layout engineering; or M.S. with 8+ years
Deep working knowledge in at least one of: vehicle structural design, mechanical systems design, or cryogenic upper stage design, with working familiarity across the others
Demonstrated experience leading architecture-level or vehicle-level trade studies, from early concept through down-selection
Demonstrated configuration control experience on developed products in aerospace, launch vehicle, or comparable highly-regulated industries — from early trades through final design, manufacturing, and test
Strong track record of cross-functional influence and consensus-building, driving technical decisions through credibility and judgment
Strong 3-D CAD and visualization tool experience, with the ability to assess and critique design solutions directly, not just review summaries
Understanding of how manufacturing, assembly, and integration realities should shape design and configuration decisions

Nice To Haves

Experience specifically with cryogenic propulsion or upper stage systems
Strong GD&T skills and experience with large tolerance stack-up analysis
Experience using PTC Creo and Windchill
Experience driving cost-reduction or producibility-improvement initiatives on a flying or near-flying vehicle program
Demonstrated ability to balance long-term architecture vision, near-term configuration discipline, and business or market needs on the same program
Knowledge of aerospace vehicle fabrication and assembly techniques and related quality control concepts

Responsibilities

Lead cross-disciplinary trade studies that define the long-term evolution of the MK1 Cargo Lander architecture, weighing performance, cost, manufacturability, and schedule
Develop and maintain a long-term improvement roadmap for MK1, identifying where next-gen architecture changes deliver meaningful cost savings, technology upgrades, or manufacturing simplification
Evaluate how new technologies, materials, or manufacturing methods could be incorporated into the next-gen design without destabilizing the current flight configuration
Apply deep knowledge of vehicle design, structures, mechanical systems, and/or cryogenic upper stage design to assess technical feasibility and risk of proposed architecture changes
Translate high-level program goals (cost, cadence, performance) into concrete configuration and design trade options for leadership and cross-functional review
Partner with manufacturing, production engineering, and supply chain to ensure next-gen architecture decisions reflect real-world fabrication, assembly, and tooling constraints
Own configuration management for the current MK1 vehicle baseline across structural, mechanical, fluids, and electrical subsystems, ensuring a coherent, traceable vehicle-level design
Lead technical review and disposition of Engineering Change Requests (ECRs) within your scope, ensuring completeness, technical accuracy, and configuration integrity
Define and maintain interface configurations between subsystems, including model-based definitions and control documents
Resolve cross-subsystem configuration conflicts and dependencies, driving decisions when stakeholders disagree
Ensure configuration baselines and documentation are ready to support major design reviews, integration milestones, and downstream material requirements planning
Track and report configuration and architecture trade status, including schedule, risk, and key technical issues, to program and engineering leadership
Serve as a go-to technical authority for MK1 configuration and architecture questions across the engineering organization
Provide informal technical leadership and mentorship to engineers working configuration, integration, and design trade activities
Champion configuration management best practices and standards across the team, even where you don't hold formal IPT authority
Build alignment across Structures, Fluids, Thermal, GN&C, Avionics, and Manufacturing stakeholders on configuration decisions and trade outcomes