Lead System Engineer- Mk1 Verified today

About the Role

Blue Origin's Lunar Permanence business unit is building the Blue Moon lander infrastructure to transport crew and cargo to the lunar surface. We're seeking a Level 5 Lead Systems Engineer to serve as the vehicle-level technical leader for MK1-102, the mission that delivers NASA's VIPER rover to the lunar surface.

In this critical senior leadership role, you will own end-to-end systems engineering responsibility for the vehicle as it matures through Critical Design Review toward integration, test, and flight. You will define and baseline requirements, close out design, integrate the VIPER payload, and verify and validate the integrated vehicle from component test through mission and landing readiness.

You will serve as the technical decision-maker across all Integrated Product Teams, driving Design Analysis Cycles toward CDR and partnering with Build Operations and Vehicle Test for mission success. This is a highly visible role demanding technical depth, leadership maturity, and the ability to drive consensus across a complex vehicle program on a path to launch.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as Vehicle Lead Systems Engineer for MK1-102, owning the integrated technical baseline from requirements definition through flight
• Own definition, decomposition, allocation, and management of vehicle and mission requirements and design parameters
• Drive technical content of Design Analysis Cycles toward Critical Design Review, converting mission objectives into coordinated engineering plans across all IPTs
• Lead vehicle into and through Critical Design Review and Integration and Test readiness, driving design close-out and change control to stable configuration
• Develop and define overall verification and validation approach, ensuring every requirement, function and design parameter has defined verification method
• Own VIPER payload integration, accommodation and vehicle's ability to comply with payload deployment and offloader concept of operations
• Work with mission analysis teams to ensure vehicle achieves mission objectives reliably with sufficient margins
• Review and approve vehicle and mission-level Interface Control Documents, including interfaces to NASA VIPER and other payloads
• Review and approve design-impacting major vehicle decisions
• Lead and delegate vehicle and mission-level trade studies, evaluate cross-system impact of proposed design changes, recommend disposition, and drive configuration freezes and change control
• Identify, assess, and track integration and mission risks; develop mitigation strategies and drive resolution across functional teams
• Collaborate with subsystem leads and SE leads to ensure integrated vehicle performance meets mission requirements across all mission phases
• Represent vehicle and mission in program and customer-level reviews and NASA technical interchanges
• Mentor and guide engineers across the program
• Serve as vehicle spacecraft engineer during mission operations
• Drive technical consensus across functional teams and serve as primary technical interface presenting complex trades and status to senior leadership

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field
• 12 or more years of experience in systems engineering roles within aerospace, defense, or related industries
• Demonstrated experience as technical lead responsible for full-vehicle or multi-element system development and integration
• Experience owning a complex system through the development lifecycle
• Experience developing and executing verification and validation plans
• Experience working directly with subsystems, mission operations and Integration and Test teams to support vehicle assembly, testing and operations
• Demonstrated ability to drive technical decisions and achieve consensus across large, cross-functional engineering teams
• Excellence in technical communication, including presenting complex technical challenges and solutions to senior leadership and customers

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with lunar or planetary landers, spacecraft, launch vehicles, or NASA HLS, Artemis, or CLPS program requirements
• Experience integrating NASA or commercial payloads, including payload-to-vehicle interface management and deployment or offloading concepts of operations
• Experience taking a vehicle through Critical Design Review and into integration, test, and launch operations, including verification closure activities
• Background in analysis disciplines including GN&C, propulsion, thermal, structural, or performance as applied to integrated vehicles, particularly Descent, Deorbit and Landing
• Familiarity with cryogenic propulsion systems such as LH2/LOX
• Experience with deployable mechanisms through development test and qualification
• Experience with requirement definition and verification management
• Familiarity with NASA systems engineering processes, including NPR 7123.1
• Familiarity with GD&T principles and their application to mechanical interfaces
• Experience with system modeling tools and practices
• Master's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field

Compensation

Base pay range for WA applicants: $145,188.00 to $203,263.20. Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision coverage
• Basic and supplemental life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Short and long-term disability
• 401(k) with company match up to 5%
• Education Support Program
• Stock options for all regular employees working at least 20 hours per week
• Paid Time Off: up to 4 weeks per year based on scheduled hours, plus up to 14 company-paid holidays
• Performance bonuses based on role type and job level

Requirements

Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Background check required for all positions. Additional checks may be required based on role and workplace requirements.