Sr. Mechanisms Design Engineer - Deployable Solar Arrays

Blue Origin • Southgate, WA

9h

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 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 hardworking team of specialists, technicians, and engineers you will lead end-to-end development of space deployable mechanisms, balancing tight packaging, mass, and reliability constraints. You will define deployment architectures and validation strategies, using analysis, prototyping, and environmental testing to prove performance in the space environment. You will drive rapid design-build-test cycles to burn down risk quickly and drive the design maturity. You will make data‑driven design and material choices that meet cleanliness and compatibility standards, coordinate interfaces across structural, thermal, and electrical disciplines, maintain configuration integrity, and drive rapid issue resolution to deliver flight‑ready hardware. Special Mentions: Relocation provided Travel expected up to 25% of the time

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering; 8+ years of experience
• Recent experience designing/building mechanical hardware (passive or active mechanisms preferred)
• Hands-on prototyping/testing experience
• Strong mechanical design, integration, and mechanism analysis skills using 3D modeling (CREO preferred) and simulation tools
• Experience with GD&T analysis (ASME Y14.5) and performing tolerance stacks
• Knowledge of manufacturing, assembly, integration, and verification/qualification testing
• Familiarity with space environments, verification standards, and vacuum environments
• Desire/drive to learn new skills and technical tools as project develops.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Solar Arrays.
• Experience with large-scale deployable and/or complex moving mechanisms from concept through qualification.
• Experience with composites.
• Deep knowledge of aerospace mechanisms design practices & standards such as NASA-STD-5017.
• Experience with materials/coatings/lubricants/bearing selection for spacecraft.
• Experience in mechanical finite element analysis for statics and dynamics.
• Experience with multibody dynamics.
• Knowledge of mechanism avionics interfaces and control logic.
• Experience with test data acquisition systems and data reduction.
• Experience with thermal design of spacecraft structures and mechanisms

Responsibilities

• Design and development of various deployable mechanisms.
• Lead entire design cycle for flight hardware, including trade studies, conceptual and detailed design, structural analysis, development testing, and qualification.
• Hands-on prototyping to quickly push the design forward on fast-moving research and development projects. May include passive actuation, motors, controls, instrumentation as needed for design selected.
• Perform analysis for systems including kinematic, motor/spring/gear sizing, tolerance stacks, structural, etc. as the system design requires.
• Drive DFM/DFA and producibility to drive down cost and meet schedule for production rate.
• Generate component drawings, assembly drawings, and interface control documents with application of GD&T per ASME Y14.5.
• Perform flight hardware testing; TVAC, modal, vibe, functional deployment
• Collaborate in a scrappy cross-disciplinary R&D environment, working with the other disciplines to generate a fully integrated design.
• Coach, mentor, and technically assist junior engineers.

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.
• Dependent on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on the company's intent to reward individual contributions and enable them to share in the company's results, or other factors at the company's sole discretion.
• Bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and subject to change and cancellation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees