Senior Operations Training Engineer (TS/SCI Required) - Blue Ring

Blue Origin•Reston, VA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Blue Origin’s Blue National Security (BNS) team develops and operates launch and spacecraft systems for national security missions. This role supports Blue Ring, a hybrid solar-electric and chemical-propelled spacecraft platform. The Senior Operations Training Engineer ensures Blue Ring spacecraft operators are trained, certified, and prepared before launch. The role works across space and ground segments and collaborates with engineering, simulation, software, mission, and customer teams. The engineer designs curricula, develops and leads simulator exercises and mission rehearsals, evaluates and certifies operators, and maintains training records and readiness reporting. The position also defines training simulator and asset requirements, keeps materials technically current as the vehicle and operational products change, mentors junior training engineers, and uses lessons learned to improve training. The position is based in the Reston, Virginia, or Denver, Colorado office, with relocation provided. Travel is expected up to 20% and may fluctuate with mission phases. Work may involve varied hours, off-hours or shift training, and on-call support.

Requirements

Active TS/SCI security clearance.
B.S. in Engineering, Physical Science, Education, or a related field, or equivalent military training and experience.
At least 8 years of experience operating spacecraft or training spacecraft operators, including at least 4 years designing, delivering, and evaluating training for satellite operations crews.
Hands-on experience running operator training in a simulator or on a live system, including building scenarios, injecting failures, and evaluating crew response.
Experience writing training course materials, including lesson objectives and plans, evaluation criteria, and hands-on training activities.
Experience evaluating and certifying operators against a written standard.
Working knowledge of spacecraft subsystems, including GNC, power, propulsion, thermal, command and data handling, and communications, as well as the ground segment, sufficient to create credible failure scenarios and assess crew responses.
Strong facilitation and communication skills for leading technical training and debriefs.
Ability to travel up to 20% to support training events, rehearsals, and working sessions; travel frequency may vary with mission phase or concurrent missions.
Ability to support varied workday hours, including off-hours or shift training to accommodate time zones and work schedules; on-call support may be required.
Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and build positive professional relationships across diverse backgrounds.
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

Instructor qualification on an operational satellite system, such as Space Force crew instructor or formal training unit instructor.
Standardization and Evaluation (Stan/Eval) evaluator experience on an operational satellite system, including administering initial and recurring qualification evaluations, grading crew performance against a written standard, and maintaining unit standards and checklists.
Graduate of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School Weapons Instructor Course (space weapons officer) or an equivalent advanced instructor program, including experience training unit instructors and planning, running, and debriefing large-scale exercises.
Experience building or revising initial qualification, mission qualification, and continuation training syllabi, and managing crew qualification and currency across a unit.
Experience as an operator, crew commander, or mission lead on a satellite system, such as communications, navigation, missile warning, space domain awareness, or orbital warfare.
Experience planning and running exercises or multi-crew rehearsal campaigns with mission partners or external agencies.
Experience developing training for maneuvering spacecraft, rendezvous and proximity operations, or hosted and separable payloads.
M.S. in Engineering, Instructional Systems Design, or a related field.
Experience with Training Management Systems.
Experience defining requirements for and integrating simulators or other training assets, including malfunction modeling and scenario scripting.
Proficiency with Python and/or command-and-control scripting languages.
Experience working with virtualized Ground Software, such as Command & Control, Mission Planning, Flight Dynamics, Electronic Procedures, and Software Simulators.
Experience defining and tracking training effectiveness metrics and continuously improving training content over time.

Responsibilities

Own one or more Blue Ring training areas end to end, from task analysis through final evaluation.
Build training using a systematic instructional design process such as ADDIE, including task analysis, learning objectives, lesson plans, evaluation criteria, and hands-on events.
Write and run simulation scenarios covering nominal timelines, subsystem failures, ground segment outages, and compound anomalies.
Serve as simulation supervisor and lead instructor for integrated exercises and mission rehearsals; lead debriefs and convert findings into training updates and procedure change requests.
Evaluate operator proficiency and currency through written, practical, and on-console evaluations; recommend certification or decertification and develop remedial or contingency training as needed.
Define and maintain certification flows and training records in the training management system, and report team readiness to mission leadership before mission readiness reviews.
Define requirements for training simulators and other training assets, and work with simulation and ground software teams to build and validate them.
Collaborate with flight software, GNC, power, propulsion, communications, ground systems, and payload engineers to keep training content technically accurate as the vehicle and operational products change.
Train the wider mission team as needed, including integration and test, engineering support, launch services, and payload customers.
Mentor junior training engineers and establish standards for lesson quality and evaluation consistency across the training team.
Track training effectiveness and incorporate lessons learned from rehearsals and on-orbit operations into the curriculum.

Benefits

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