Radiation Effects Engineer - Sr. Principal

Blue Origin • Huntsville, WA

2d

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 small, passionate and accomplished team of experts, you will actively engage program leadership and engineers to drive company direction, intelligent system design, part selection, subcontracts, and analysis standards. From mission inception to operation, you will ensure success of Blue Origin’s systems. Within the Radiation Effects team, you will also lead process improvements and end-to-end analysis optimizations across the entire radiation effects workflow. Passion for the mission and workflow optimizations are required.

Requirements

• Graduate degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Nuclear Science, or related field with 15+ years of direct experience designing, analyzing, and/or testing radiation effects on electronics and materials, including work on avionics hardware for space environments
• Expert-level understanding of radiation effects on electronics and materials, spanning commercial and rad-hardened component technologies, semiconductor devices (transistors, memories, logic, microcontrollers, FPGAs), and the ability to interpret engineering design documentation to assess radiation susceptibility
• Expert-level experience with circuit analysis, mitigation implementation, statistical methods, quantitative risk assessment for transient radiation phenomena, and standard radiation environment/transport modeling tools (e.g., IRENE, OMERE, SPENVIS, OLTARIS, CREME96, MCNP, FASTRAD, GEANT4)
• Strong familiarity with radiation test laboratory equipment (power supplies, DAQ systems, electronic loads, SMUs, etc.) and general electronics lab skills (soldering, harnessing, oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analyzers)
• Extensive experience developing software solutions that support engineering workflows, from hardware test automation to data management applications; proficiency in relevant programming languages and communication protocols (Python, C, SQL, common web technologies, version control, I2C, SPI)
• Proven ability to lead technical projects independently from inception to completion, with sound judgment across all aspects of radiation effects on electronics
• Excellent written/verbal communication skills; extensive experience producing program deliverables (control plans, test plans/reports, design reviews, system-level analyses) and presenting radiation requirements/results at program design reviews
• Ability to build trust, maintain positive cross-team relationships, and contribute to an inclusive culture
• Completion of radiation safety coursework and adherence to dose exposure protocols
• U.S. citizen, U.S. national, current Green Card holder, or individual lawfully admitted as a refugee or granted asylum
• Domestic travel required, occasional international travel possible
• 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

• Background in the component engineering discipline, with experience influencing part reliability and availability decisions in coordination with sourcing organizations
• Familiarity with radiation assessments and mitigation strategies for human space crews, and radiation effects on spacecraft materials

Responsibilities

• Serve as Subject Matter Expert on electronics part performance and space radiation environments; mentor engineers and guide multidisciplinary teams on analysis outcomes, requirement interpretation, and risk mitigation approaches
• Drive automation/tooling initiatives, develop roadmaps for radiation testing, analysis, and research, and champion continuous improvement in engineering practices and data governance
• Architect systems and processes (Radiation Test Database) that make radiation test data usable and traceable across the organization; set the technical bar for how components and assemblies are qualified against radiation criteria
• Maintain cutting-edge expertise through engagement with industry experts, customers, and technical publications on emerging technologies and radiation concerns
• Translate mission parameters into radiation environment definitions and effects requirements spanning system design, part selection, and circuit implementation; quantify mission risk via upset-rate modeling and failure analysis
• Model and validate performance of digital, analog, and mixed-signal circuits under radiation exposure; identify and verify hardening techniques in partnership with design and manufacturing stakeholders
• Guide decisions on part selection, sourcing, and qualification status across the component lifecycle, coordinating with reliability and sourcing functions to sustain a robust radiation-tolerant parts baseline
• Author and interpret control plans, requirements documents, technical memos, and comprehensive part-, circuit-, and system-level analyses that inform key company decisions
• Operate in accordance with organizational and regulatory radiation safety standards

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.
• Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
• 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: Senior