Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Job Description

Senior Manufacturing Engineer – BE-7 & Blue Thrusters

Location: Huntsville, AL | Shift: A Shift, Monday–Friday | Level: Engineer – Manufacturing Sr (L4)

About the Role

Blue Origin is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to serve as the Manufacturing Engineering Subject Matter Expert across two of our most critical propulsion programs: BE-7 and Blue Thrusters. This is a high-visibility, high-impact staff role reporting directly to the Director of Operations.

BE-7 is entering qualification with production on the near horizon. Blue Thrusters encompasses multiple thruster variants currently in research and development, all requiring rapid transition to production. This person will be the connective tissue across both programs — setting the manufacturing standard, driving speed and decisiveness, and building the ME capability of the entire team.

This is not a role for someone who optimizes things that shouldn't exist. We need someone who can identify waste at its root, eliminate it, and teach others to do the same.

Key Responsibilities

Cross-Program ME Leadership

• Serve as the Manufacturing Engineering SME across BE-7 and Blue Thrusters value streams, splitting time equally between both programs
• Establish and enforce manufacturing best practices across all ME value streams; mentor and guide MEs at all levels to raise the technical floor of the entire organization
• Drive a culture of speed, decisiveness, and first-principles thinking — challenge MEs to eliminate processes that shouldn't exist before optimizing the ones that should
• Represent Manufacturing Engineering in high-visibility program forums, design reviews, and leadership readouts
• Serve as the technical escalation point for complex manufacturing problems across both programs; break down ambiguous failures to their root physical and materials-level causes

Design for Manufacturability (DFM/DFx)

• Provide assertive, data-backed DFM feedback to design engineers — including those resistant to change — and drive producibility improvements that reduce cost, cycle time, and rework
• Engage early in the design lifecycle to influence hardware before it becomes expensive to change
• Lead DFM/DFA reviews across both programs and drive outcomes into actionable engineering change requests
• Apply first-principles and materials science knowledge to evaluate design decisions at the physics level, not just the process level

Production Readiness & NPI

• Lead manufacturing readiness activities for BE-7 qualification and the transition to production
• Develop and execute NPI strategies for Blue Thrusters variants, building scalable manufacturing processes from the ground up
• Architect production systems capable of supporting medium-rate production (1,000 units/year)

Automation Strategy & Implementation

• Lead the identification, strategy development, and implementation of manufacturing automation across both programs
• Drive automation stand-up from concept through commissioning — whether executing directly or overseeing implementation through others
• Develop and deploy AI-assisted manufacturing tools including but not limited to vision-based inspection systems, predictive quality analytics, and process optimization algorithms
• Leverage AI productivity tools to accelerate engineering analysis, troubleshooting, and documentation workflows across the ME team
• Build the team's capability and comfort with AI-enabled engineering — this person leads by example

Technical Foundation & Process Ownership

• Draw on direct prior experience authoring work instructions, managing manufacturing BOMs, and developing process documentation — applying that foundation to review, approve, and elevate the work of others rather than executing it day-to-day
• Establish process controls, quality gates, and inspection plans that scale with production rate increases
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action for non-conformances; conduct FMEAs and drive lessons learned back into the design and process baseline

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Aerospace, or Materials Science Engineering from an accredited university — this role requires deep hardware and materials fluency; process or systems-focused backgrounds alone will not be sufficient
• 8 years of direct manufacturing engineering experience in a production or development-to-production environment
• 5 years of experience authoring work instructions and managing manufacturing BOMs for complex hardware — this is a foundation, not a day-to-day expectation of the role
• Demonstrated hands-on experience manufacturing propulsion or aerospace hardware — you must know how to build the hardware, not just document it
• Proven ability to deliver assertive DFM feedback to design engineers and drive design changes in a cross-functional environment
• Demonstrated ability to break down complex manufacturing failures to first-principles and materials-level root causes
• Experience across multiple manufacturing domains including at minimum: precision assembly, welding, machining, and fluid/propulsion systems
• Experience supporting or leading NPI and transition-to-production efforts
• Experience leading or executing the stand-up of an automated manufacturing line or cell
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and elevate the technical capability of other engineers

Preferred Qualifications

• Materials science background or demonstrated ability to apply materials-level thinking to manufacturing process development and failure analysis
• Experience developing or deploying AI-assisted manufacturing tools (vision inspection, predictive quality, process optimization)
• Experience using AI productivity tools to accelerate engineering workflows and building that capability in others
• Experience with turbomachinery assembly and integration
• Experience with brazing processes for aerospace applications
• Experience with cryogenic valve acceptance testing
• Experience machining additively manufactured parts (post-processing, fixturing, tolerance management)
• Background in rocket engine or propulsion system manufacturing (liquid, electric, or cold gas thrusters)
• Experience at a high-velocity aerospace manufacturer where speed, decisiveness, and elimination of waste are cultural norms
• Lean Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or higher)
• Proficiency in CAD software (Creo or CATIA preferred) and PLM/MRP systems (Windchill, Teamcenter, or equivalent)

Who You Are

You've built hardware. You've stood on the floor next to technicians and solved problems in real time. You've walked into a design review, seen something that can't be built the way it's drawn, and said so — clearly, respectfully, and with the physics to back it up.

When something goes wrong, you don't stop at "the weld failed." You ask why the weld failed, why the material behaved that way, and what in the design or process allowed that condition to exist in the first place. You think in first principles, not just best practices.

You don't wait to be told what to improve. You find it. You fix it. And then you teach the team how to find it themselves next time — including when the answer is to stop doing something entirely rather than doing it better.

You've implemented automation, not just recommended it. You understand what it takes to go from concept to a running line, and you know where the bodies are buried in that process.

You're comfortable with AI as a tool — not as a buzzword — and you're already using it to work faster and smarter. You'll bring that capability to the team and raise the floor for everyone around you.

You thrive in ambiguity, move fast without cutting corners on quality, and you understand that the best process is often the one you eliminate entirely.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to work on the production floor, climb stairs, work in confined spaces, and lift and carry up to 40 lbs
• Comfortable working in environments with loud noise, crane lifts, and other standard manufacturing hazards