Director - Manufacturing, Ops & Assembly Electric Propulsion Verified today

Blue Origin is scaling production of its electric propulsion systems. You will be hired as Director to own the manufacturing outcome for that product line and carry it from development hardware into rate production.

You are the single-threaded leader for Operations of this program: one person accountable for rate, quality, cost, and people, with full authority over the entire in-program production flow.

This is a build-it role, not a run-it role. You will define the value streams, stand up integration with support organisations, and build the team that runs the line, working concurrently with an active design program rather than behind a frozen one.

Responsibilities

• Own the strategy, roadmap, and priorities for successful manufacturing outcomes of the electric propulsion thruster line: delivery rate, quality, cost, and the people who produce it.
• Build the production organisation. Define the value streams, stand up production control and manufacturing engineering, and hire and develop the leadership beneath you as the program scales.
• Own the get-to-rate plan. Define the path from development build to sustained rate production, and demonstrate cycle time at the rate-readiness gate as a committed acceptance number rather than a projection.
• Lead the transition from development build into rate production, including the qualification of tooling, processes, and work instructions required to produce repeatably at rate.
• Drive producibility into the product during design, rather than absorbing it on the floor later. Own the manufacturing view of the bill of materials as the product configuration evolves.
• Establish and own the programme's working interfaces with quality, supply chain, material planning, and test operations.
• Build and manage the programme's manufacturing operating budget and capital plan, owning responsibility for product delivery at cost and rate.
• Set the safety and quality culture for a new production team, and hold it as the organisation grows.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering or technical discipline.
• 12+ years of experience in manufacturing, production, supply chain, or operations, including 5+ years leading manufacturing organisations.
• Direct, hands-on experience taking a new product or production line from development into rate production.
• Experience carrying a product through a production-readiness or rate-readiness gate, and owning the cycle-time and capability evidence presented at it.
• Experience building an organisation: defining structure, hiring leaders, and developing a team through significant growth.
• Line management of both salaried professionals and craft or technician populations.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in ambiguity: making defensible assumptions and moving forward on an incomplete definition, then correcting as information arrives.
• Ability to travel frequently, up to approximately 35%, to other Blue Origin sites.
• 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.

Preferred Qualifications

• 15+ years of manufacturing and operations experience.
• Propulsion, spacecraft, satellite, or other high-reliability low-volume hardware experience.
• Experience transitioning a product from low-volume, high-mix build into repeatable rate production.
• Demonstrated cycle-time or throughput improvement with measured results.
• Experience standing up production at a new or greenfield manufacturing site.
• Experience managing a build against a bill of materials that changed materially during production ramp.
• Formal lean or continuous-improvement training, with applied results on a production line.
• Master's degree in engineering or technical field, or MBA.

Compensation

Base pay range for WA applicants: $203,165.00 to $284,430.30. Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance.
• Paid parental leave, short and long-term disability.
• 401(k) with company match up to 5%.
• Education Support Programme.
• Stock options for all regular employees working at least 20 hours/week.
• Paid time off: up to four weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.
• Bonus eligibility dependent on role type and job level; amounts and eligibility not guaranteed and subject to change.

Background checks required for all positions. A standard Blue Origin background check is mandatory. Additional checks may apply depending on role and site access requirements.