Senior Director, Operations Support

Blue Origin•Huntsville, AL

About The Position

Blue Origin is building a high-growth, greenfield program targeting full-rate production by the end of the decade. The Senior Director, Operations Support leads the functions that enable rate production: Supply Chain, Logistics, Warehousing, and Materials and Production Control. The role is accountable for ensuring material is available, qualified, and at the point of use when the build plan requires it. It reports to Operations leadership and partners closely with Manufacturing and Value Stream leaders, Quality, Engineering, Finance, Program leadership, and the Field Service organization. The Senior Director leads the support organization through subordinate leaders, builds its leadership bench, and establishes operating models, metrics, and AI-enabled workflows. The position owns material readiness, supplier development and readiness, supply costs, logistics, warehousing, material flow, and safety performance across the support organization. It also represents material readiness in executive program reviews and partners with other functions on product readiness, ERP and AI tooling, spares, repair loops, and warranty findings. Within the first year, success includes having functional leaders in place or in active search, establishing shared operating metrics led by clear-to-build performance, baselining supplier readiness for critical items with committed run-at-rate dates, and agreeing on allocation rules for competing new-build and sustaining demand.

Requirements

15 or more years of progressive operations experience, including at least 5 years leading through subordinate managers or directors.
Direct ownership at scale of at least two of the following functions: supply chain, quality, logistics, warehousing, or materials and production control.
Demonstrated accountability for material availability during a production ramp, including a record of keeping a build plan on track rather than only reporting performance.
Experience taking a technically complex product from new product introduction into rate production, including supplier qualification and run-at-rate.
Experience presenting operational readiness and risk to senior executive audiences.
Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments where the organization, supply base, and production system are being defined in parallel.
Curiosity about AI-enabled workflows and willingness to build without traditional support structures.
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, or a related field.
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

Master's degree or MBA.
Experience supporting both new-build and sustaining or aftermarket demand within one organization.
Aerospace, defense, turbomachinery, or other high-consequence hardware background.
Greenfield site or new factory startup experience.
Lean, Six Sigma, or ASQ certification, such as CQE, CQM, or Black Belt.
Depth in international trade compliance, including export control, FTZ, or duty drawback.
Familiarity with Coupa, Costpoint, SAP, or similar procurement and ERP systems.

Responsibilities

Lead a multi-function support organization through subordinate leaders across Supply Chain, Logistics, Warehousing, and Materials and Production Control.
Own hiring, performance, succession, and professional development across the support functions, and build leadership capacity as the organization scales.
Establish the operating model for AI-enabled support functions, determining where automation can replace traditional roles and where human judgment is essential.
Set a common set of operating metrics across the support functions.
Own support-organization safety performance in partnership with EHS, including warehouse and material handling, heavy-haul, and supplier-site work.
Own material availability as a program output, including clear-to-build performance against the production plan.
Own the master production schedule interface, MRP integrity, inventory strategy, and buffer policy for raw material, purchased parts, and work in process.
Establish shortage escalation and recovery processes that resolve constraints.
Balance allocation between new-build and sustaining demand when both require the same parts.
Own supplier readiness for rate production, including capacity commitments, tooling, first article and production part approval, and run-at-rate validation ahead of ramp milestones.
Direct supplier development for a largely new domestic and international supply base.
Intervene with suppliers that are not on track to meet production rate, including recovery plans, resourcing decisions, and on-site development.
Own total cost of supply in partnership with Finance, including direct material, tooling, logistics, and cost-to-serve.
Own inbound and outbound logistics, including heavy-haul, project cargo for large assemblies, and international trade compliance.
Own warehousing, receiving, kitting, and point-of-use delivery for new-build and spares.
Establish logistics and packaging strategy for delivery of finished units.
Represent material readiness in executive program reviews and communicate risks early and clearly with a recovery position.
Partner with Engineering on design-for-manufacturability, design-for-affordability, and configuration maturity ahead of release.
Partner with the field organization on spares provisioning, repair loops, and warranty findings.
Define support-function requirements for ERP and AI tooling and partner with the technology team on implementation.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
Basic and supplemental life insurance.
Paid parental leave.
Short- and long-term disability.
401(k) with company match of up to 5%.
Education Support Program.
Stock options for regular employees working at least 20 hours per week.
Paid time off of up to four weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours.
Up to 14 company-paid holidays.
Depending on role type and job level, potential eligibility for benefits and bonuses based on company policy and other factors; bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed.