Mechanical Engineer III – Solar GSE

Blue Origin•Houston, TX

17h•Onsite

About The Position

This role is part of Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering (ACE), supporting Blue Origin’s mission of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. The team fosters innovation and drives engineering workflows of the future, shared solutions and standards, simplicity and lower costs, and manufacturable design. As part of a hardworking team of specialists, technicians, and engineers, you will own the mechanical ground support equipment that makes Blue Origin's next-generation solar array programs possible. The Solar Center of Excellence is building world-class capabilities in solar array development—from materials and processes through assembly, test, and qualification—and the MGSE you design will be on the critical path every step of the way. If you thrive on hands-on problem solving, take pride in precision craftsmanship, and want your work to directly enable humanity's future in space, this is the team for you.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related engineering discipline
5+ years of relevant experience in mechanical design, with demonstrated focus on tooling, fixtures, GSE, or ground handling equipment
Experience designing and building mechanical hardware, including hands-on prototyping and acceptance testing
Proficiency in 3D CAD using Creo (or equivalent parametric modeling tool); experience managing designs in Windchill or equivalent PDM system
Proficiency in GD&T per ASME Y14.5 and demonstrated experience performing tolerance stackup analysis across multi-part assemblies
Working knowledge of structural analysis sufficient to size load-bearing members, select fastener schemes, and verify load paths
Experience with standard manufacturing processes including machining, sheet metal fabrication, extrusion-based construction, and additive manufacturing
Experience writing manufacturing specifications and working with machine shops or outside vendors to close on fabrication
Desire/drive to learn new skills and technical tools as the program develops

Nice To Haves

Experience designing GSE, MGSE, or handling fixtures for aerospace flight hardware, particularly large or fragile assemblies (solar arrays, antenna panels, composite structures)
Familiarity with gravity off-load system design approaches: constant-force springs, air bearings, overhead cable systems, or hybrid counterbalance configurations
Experience with rigid-body kinematic analysis and deployment simulation for mechanisms with large range of motion
Familiarity with cleanroom and high-bay operational constraints and their impact on tooling design
Experience with TVAC test fixture design, vibration test interface plates, or transportation and shipping container design for fragile assemblies
Familiarity with aerospace workmanship standards (NASA-STD-8739.x) and their application to tooling and handling equipment
Experience with finite element analysis tools for static and dynamic structural verification of tooling
Familiarity with deployable solar array structures or large flexible spacecraft assemblies
Experience with Windchill for drawing release, change management, and configuration control

Responsibilities

Design, analyze, fabricate, and verify the full suite of mechanical ground support equipment for large-format solar array wings—from prototype assembly through engineering build and into qualification test
Own the complete GSE lifecycle for each item: concept trade, detailed design, procurement or in-house fabrication, assembly, acceptance test, and handoff to production with supporting documentation in Windchill
Design and develop breakover and repositioning fixtures that allow solar wings to be rotated and handled during ground integration, ensuring load paths do not damage fragile photovoltaic assemblies or their substrates
Translate mechanical ICD constraints from array and spacecraft bus interfaces into tooling geometry that can be operated safely in cleanroom and high-bay environments
Design and release a broad family of wing assembly fixtures: integration stands for frame build-up during panel installation, alignment fixtures enforcing critical hole-to-hole pitch across structural members, harness routing guides, connector support brackets, and panel-level handling aids that allow technicians to maneuver individual solar panels without point-loading delicate optical surfaces or flexing laminated structures beyond tolerance
Apply strong DFM intuition; write clear manufacturing specifications and work with in-house machinists and outside vendors to close on fabrication
Lead design and analysis of gravity off-load systems, including dynamic load analysis, cable or counterbalance system design, and deployment simulation to accurately compensate for the distributed weight of solar array assemblies throughout the full kinematic range of motion
Validate offload accuracy through a combination of rigid-body kinematic analysis and instrumented checkout, selecting from constant-force springs, air bearings, overhead cable systems, or hybrid approaches as the design requires
Support miscellaneous MGSE needs as programs mature: TVAC test fixture design, transportation and shipping containers for fragile panel assemblies, vibration test interface plates, and deployment restraint fixtures for pre-launch handling
Generate component drawings, assembly drawings, and interface control documents with application of GD&T per ASME Y14.5; perform tolerance stackup analysis to verify interface compatibility with flight hardware
Perform structural analysis sufficient to size load-bearing members, select appropriate fastener schemes, and verify interface compatibility with flight hardware
Collaborate in a scrappy cross-disciplinary R&D environment with manufacturing engineers, mechanisms designers, test engineers, and technicians to ensure GSE is integrated, safe, and ready when the program needs it
Coach, mentor, and technically assist junior engineers on the GSE team