Operations Program Manager (OPM)

Blue Origin • Huntsville, AL

4d

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. This role is an Operations Program Manager (OPM) — a senior individual contributor who serves as the single-threaded owner for a product value stream within a new advanced hardware program at Blue Origin. The OPM is the technical program manager for everything required to take a product from engineering release to shipped hardware at rate: factory planning, facility activation, equipment commissioning, process qualification, production ramp, and sustained operations. This is a TPM-style role — the OPM does not have direct reports during the early phase but is accountable for the production system design and activation plan for their product. The OPM writes the factory plan, drives equipment procurement, leads facility buildout for their production area, owns NPI and first-article execution, and becomes the production system architect as the value stream scales. The role reports to the Head of Operations and grows in scope as production rate increases — ultimately owning schedule, cost, quality, and delivery for their product line.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related discipline
• 8+ years of experience in manufacturing operations, manufacturing engineering, or industrial engineering with progressive responsibility in hardware production
• Factory planning experience — has developed production area layouts, equipment plans, or facility activation schedules (not just operated in an existing factory)
• Systems-level thinking — demonstrated ability to design a production system from process flow through equipment selection, staffing, and facility requirements
• Equipment commissioning experience — has specified, procured, installed, and qualified capital equipment in a manufacturing environment
• Data-driven decision making — builds and uses capacity models, cycle time analyses, and cost models to drive production planning decisions
• NPI experience — has led or been a key contributor in transitioning products from engineering development into production
• Strong cross-functional collaboration — effective working across engineering, quality, supply chain, and facilities organizations without positional authority
• Strong written, personal, technical, and software skills (CAD, Issue Tracking, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.)

Nice To Haves

• Experience in greenfield or brownfield facility activation — personally leading the buildout and commissioning of new production areas or factories
• Background in aerospace, industrial gas turbines, power generation equipment, or precision industrial hardware manufacturing
• Process qualification experience — has led IQ/OQ/PQ campaigns for manufacturing processes (machining, welding, brazing, AM, assembly)
• TPM / technical program management experience — has operated as a single-threaded owner for a product or subsystem in a production environment
• Capital equipment program management — has managed $5M+ CapEx procurement programs including vendor selection, specification, and acceptance testing
• Familiarity with MES/ERP systems in a manufacturing context (SAP, Oracle, Plex, or similar)
• Lean/Six Sigma certification or equivalent operational excellence experience
• Familiarity with AS9100, ISO 9001, or equivalent quality management systems
• Proficient with Computer Aided Design (CAD) software (Creo or CATIA V5)
• Customer focused with a proven track record to work cooperatively with teams of different skills across large geographic distances
• Strong organizational and analytical skills

Responsibilities

• Developing the production system architecture — process flow from raw material through finished/tested product, work cell layout, material flow, WIP staging, and test/inspection stations
• Owning the factory plan for the assigned product — the integrated plan that defines process flow, equipment list, facility requirements, staffing model, capital budget, and production rate milestones from development through full-rate production
• Building and maintaining data-driven capacity models — machine utilization, cycle times, staffing requirements, and throughput at each rate milestone; using these models to drive equipment and hiring decisions
• Leading facility planning and activation — defining floor layout, utility requirements (power, gas, compressed air, exhaust), foundation and rigging specs, and construction phasing for the production area; coordinating with facilities engineering and construction contractors through turnover
• Driving equipment procurement and commissioning — writing equipment specifications, evaluating vendors, managing purchase orders, overseeing installation qualification (IQ), and executing operational qualification (OQ) to confirm machines meet process requirements
• Leading New Product Introduction (NPI) — structured handoff from engineering to production including producibility reviews, process development, first-article builds, and lessons-learned capture
• Defining the make/buy strategy for the product — which processes are core (build in-house) vs. commodity (outsource), with transition plans as production rate changes
• Owning production metrics for the value stream — OEE, first-pass yield, cost-per-unit, cycle time, and on-time delivery; driving root-cause analysis and corrective action when metrics deviate
• Developing the automation and mechanization roadmap — identifying which manual processes should transition to semi-automated or fully automated as rate justifies the investment
• Coordinating with supply chain on long-lead procurement, vendor qualification, and material flow into the production area

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
• Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.

What This Job Offers

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