Welding Manufacturing Engineer

BLUE ORIGIN • Huntsville, AL

1d • Onsite

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. We are looking for someone to apply their technical expertise, leadership skills, and commitment to quality to positively impact safe human spaceflight. Passion for our mission and vision is required! This role supports the development and qualification of welding processes for a new advanced hardware program at Blue Origin. The successful candidate will own weld process engineering across the full spectrum of program welding needs — from aerospace-grade GTAW on thin-wall nickel superalloy and stainless steel components to ASME pipe welding for high-pressure process piping systems. This role requires hands-on weld engineering depth: developing and qualifying welding procedure specifications (WPS), managing welder performance qualifications (WPQ), defining joint designs and weld parameters, and providing real-time shipside support during critical welding operations. The ideal candidate bridges the aerospace and pressure equipment/piping worlds — comfortable with both flight-heritage weld standards and ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code requirements. This is a greenfield environment where the welding process engineer will help stand up the entire welding operation from equipment selection through process qualification and rate production readiness.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Welding Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, or related discipline
• 8+ years of experience in welding process engineering, weld procedure development, or manufacturing engineering with a strong welding focus
• Direct experience developing and qualifying welding procedures (WPS/WPQR)
• Working knowledge of ASME B31.3 (Process Piping) or B31.1 (Power Piping) weld requirements, or equivalent pressure piping code experience for ground support equipment
• Experience with GTAW (TIG) process engineering on stainless steels, nickel-based alloys (Inconel, Haynes), and/or carbon steel pipe
• Strong understanding of welding metallurgy — heat-affected zone behavior, solidification cracking, sensitization, and the effects of preheat/PWHT on weld properties
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, weld symbols per AWS A2.4, and GD&T per ASME Y14.5
• Experience with weld defect analysis and root cause investigation using NDE results (RT, UT, PT, VT)
• Strong written, personal, technical, and software skills (CAD, Issue Tracking, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.)

Nice To Haves

• AWS Certified Welding Engineer (CWEng) or Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) certification
• Experience in aerospace welding to AWS D17.1 or equivalent aerospace weld standards (NASA-STD-5006, MSFC-STD-504)
• Experience with mechanized orbital GTAW systems (Arc Machines, Liburdi, or equivalent) including parameter development and qualification
• Background in both aerospace fabrication and ASME BPVC / pressure equipment fabrication environments — ability to bridge both code worlds
• Experience with dissimilar metal welding (DMW) and transition joints between different alloy systems
• Experience with electron beam welding (EBW), laser beam welding (LBW), or friction stir welding (FSW)
• Knowledge of weld residual stress analysis, distortion prediction, and mitigation techniques
• Experience standing up welding operations in a greenfield facility — equipment layout, gas distribution, ventilation, and weld shop infrastructure
• Lean/Six Sigma certification or equivalent
• 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

• Defining weld joint designs, fit-up tolerances, weld parameters, and acceptance criteria for both aerospace structural welds and ASME/B31.3 pressure-boundary pipe welds
• Providing Design for Weldability feedback to design engineering — influencing joint geometry, material selection, weld access, distortion control, and residual stress management early in the design cycle
• Evaluating, selecting, and specifying welding equipment — GTAW power supplies, orbital welding systems, mechanized weld heads, positioners, purge systems, and fixturing — to establish production weld capability
• Developing, qualifying, and maintaining welding procedure specifications (WPS) as applicable to program hardware
• Managing the weld procedure qualification record (WPQR) program — planning and executing procedure qualification tests, documenting results, and maintaining qualification records
• Developing weld maps, weld sequence plans, and detailed work instructions for complex welded assemblies including multi-pass pipe joints, structural weldments, and precision thin-wall components
• Providing shipside/lineside welding engineering support during production — monitoring weld parameters, verifying fit-up, witnessing critical welds, and making real-time process decisions
• Leading weld-related nonconformance investigations — performing root cause analysis on weld defects (porosity, cracking, lack of fusion, distortion), developing corrective actions, and authoring weld repair procedures
• Defining preheat, interpass temperature, and post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) requirements; developing thermal management plans for distortion-sensitive assemblies
• Collaborating with NDE/NDT to define inspection requirements, acceptance criteria, and NDE method selection for weld joints across all product areas
• Supporting weld automation initiatives — working with automation engineers on mechanized orbital welding, robotic GTAW, and automated parameter monitoring systems

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%
• 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
• Up to 14 company-paid holidays

What This Job Offers

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