Mechanical Engineer III - Custom Precise Machinery

BLUE ORIGIN•Seattle, WA

1d•$121,023 - $169,432•Onsite

About The Position

This role is part of Blue Origin Operations, which is comprised of Integrated Supply Chain, Test Operations, Safety, Quality, and Mission Assurance. This includes Manufacturing and Supply Chain support across all Blue Origin facilities. This role supports the design, development, and sustainment of a family of advanced custom precision machines built entirely in-house at Blue Origin. These are not purchased tools with a service contract behind them — we architect them, build them, instrument them, break them, and make them production-worthy ourselves. Each system is a large-envelope, multi-axis, closed-loop precision platform, coordinating motion, thermal, fluid, and optical subsystems to hold micron-class positional accuracy— continuously, for weeks at a time, without operator intervention. The hardware these machines produce goes directly into flight. When a machine holds its tolerances, we fly a rocket. That is the whole equation, and it is unusually short. You will join a small, senior, hands-on team that owns its hardware end to end. The machines are in production today and the next-generation configuration is in active design, which means you will work both problems at once: keeping a live fleet at rate while architecting the platform of the future. There is no wall between design and the floor here — you will draw a mechanism, watch it get built, and stand next to it when it runs. Passion for our mission and vision is required.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent
5+ years of experience designing precision mechanical systems, industrial machinery, automation equipment, or aerospace mechanical system elements
Demonstrated experience designing multi-axis motion systems — gantries, stages, slides, or comparable servo-driven precision positioning hardware
Experience designing mechanisms such as linkages, actuators, latches, hinges, disconnect devices, or similar kinematic assemblies
Strong mechanical design, integration, and mechanism analysis skills using 3D modeling and simulation tools (CREO preferred)
Proficiency in Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (ASME Y14.5) and performing tolerance stacks
Working knowledge of mechanism loads analysis, free-body diagrams, and basic structural hand calculations
Working knowledge of fabrication and manufacturing processes, and of designing hardware that is buildable on a shop floor
Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot hardware in operation, not only on the screen
Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion
Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum

Nice To Haves

Experience with large precision machine design.
Experience with dual-motor or gantry-coupled axes, including master/slave configurations, separation monitoring, and de-skew calibration
Experience with high-resolution linear encoder feedback — installation, alignment, contamination control, and diagnosis of intermittent feedback faults
Experience in structural FEA using ANSYS, NASTRAN, or similar tools for stress and modal analysis
Experience with high-cycle mechanical systems, fatigue considerations, and life prediction methods
Experience with sealed or controlled-atmosphere enclosures, sealing strategy, and leak-rate control
Experience with fluid systems including pneumatic, hydraulic, thermal-management, or gas-handling applications
Experience with servo-driven automation and working fluency in the controls interface — enough to hold a real conversation with a motion controls engineer
Experience testing mechanisms including functional testing, life testing, and environmental qualification testing
Experience with spring design, preload calculations, bearing selection, and fastener analysis
Experience with machine commissioning, alignment campaigns, and precision metrology (CMM, optical trackers, interferometry, dial-indicator methods)
Experience taking a first-of-its-kind machine from prototype to repeatable production

Responsibilities

Own the mechanical design of multi-axis precision motion subsystems —dual-motor electronically-coupled axes, high-resolution linear-encoder feedback chains, precision vertical and horizontal lift stages, and traversing carriage mechanisms operating under continuous duty cycles.
Design and analyze mechanism assemblies including linkages, actuators, latches, sealing interfaces, docking and mating mechanisms, blade and wiper assemblies, hard-stop and over-travel protection, and cable-carrier routing for continuously flexing service loops
Diagnose and resolve position-dependent geometric error in large coupled-axis systems — squareness, yaw, droop, and thermal-growth effects — and develop the calibration and error-mapping methods that correct them
Participate in the entire design cycle of precision machine mechanisms: conceptual and detailed design, trade studies, structural analysis, development testing, qualification, and production release
Generate 3-D models, kinematic simulations, component drawings, assembly drawings, and interface control documents with application of GD&T per ASME Y14.5
Perform tolerance stack-up analysis on precision assemblies where accumulated error directly consumes machine accuracy budget
Design and integrate mechanical interfaces to thermal and fluid subsystems — cooling loops, chillers, inert gas distribution, purge circuits, filtration, and sealed-volume containment
Own the mechanical side of cross-discipline integration with controls, electrical, and process engineering; these machines are split across independent controllers, and mechanism behavior cannot be understood from either domain alone
Create documentation for assembly, commissioning, and test of development and production hardware
Participate in subsystem- and machine-level testing including planning, execution, data reduction, and analysis
Perform and document root-cause analysis on field failures across an operating fleet, and drive the corrective design change through release
Develop component specifications, evaluate COTS versus custom solutions, and manage suppliers through fabrication and acceptance
Rapidly design and produce proof-of-concept hardware to retire risk on next-generation configurations
Support the retrofit and upgrade of fielded machines — designing change into hardware that is already in production, where downtime is measured against engine deliveries