Mission Assurance Director - Lunar

BLUE ORIGIN•West Melbourne, FL

8d•$160,618 - $237,473

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 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. Blue Origin is seeking a Mission Assurance Director to lead the safety and mission assurance function for the Human Landing System (HLS) program within the Lunar Permanence business unit. HLS is Blue Origin's crewed lunar lander, developed under NASA's Artemis program to return humans to the surface of the Moon. This role is accountable for independent assurance of safety, quality, and mission success for a human rated spacecraft system, from design and qualification through integration and test, launch campaign support, and crewed lunar operations. The Mission Assurance Director serves as the mission assurance authority across program milestones, in close partnership with the program, engineering, system safety, reliability, quality assurance, and EHS functional organizations, as well as directly with NASA. Scope includes budget planning, organizational strategy, and high level communication with senior executives, the customer, and across the organization, including responsibility to manage change in a structured, systemic manner. This role reports to the Vice President of Safety, Quality, and Mission Assurance.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a technical field
15+ years of experience in mission assurance, quality, reliability, or product integrity for complex hardware
Human spaceflight or launch vehicle certification experience, including familiarity with human rating requirements and processes
Strong proficiency with safety and mission assurance processes, analysis, and tools, including risk management, hazard analysis, FMEA, reliability analysis, and root cause analysis
Demonstrated success providing independent technical judgment and establishing risk thresholds that drive mission success on complex aerospace systems
Technical leadership experience driving workforce culture and process change and leading through influence
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including with senior executives and external customers

Nice To Haves

Direct NASA interface experience, including familiarity with NASA mission assurance and safety requirements
Experience on NASA crewed or human rated programs
Launch vehicle and associated ground systems development experience
Experience supporting launch operations
Continuous Improvement, Lean, or Six Sigma knowledge and experience
Working knowledge of AS9100 or an equivalent quality standard, including audit and conformance experience

Responsibilities

Serve as the mission assurance authority for the Human Landing System program, providing independent oversight and technical judgment across the program lifecycle
Define, implement, and monitor the HLS mission assurance program, specifications, and processes to assure design, test, launch, and crewed mission success
Coordinate SQMA efforts across a matrixed team of system safety, reliability, and quality engineers to ensure safe and successful tests and missions
Provide inputs to program, test, and mission planning to ensure safety and mission assurance objectives are addressed at each development and certification gate
Coordinate with the program to establish and refine risk thresholds and goals for safety and mission success, and provide disposition of risks relevant to safety and mission success
Represent Mission Assurance at program, design, test, and material review boards
Ensure safety, reliability, hazard, and FMEA analyses are thorough and correct, and that derived requirements and mitigations are verified and closed
Serve as non-advocate for design, qualification, production, and flight readiness reviews, and for test and integration facility activation
Provide independent review of failure and defect root cause analyses, anomaly investigations, and mishaps, and provide non-advocate support to corrective and preventive action processes
Provide technical expertise to manufacturing and test activities to improve product safety, reliability, and quality
Interface directly with NASA on mission assurance requirements, compliance, and human rating certification activities
Establish, track, and report key performance metrics to SQMA and Lunar Permanence leadership to support program goals