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MK1-Avionics DFI Engineer III Verified today

Blue Origin · 2 Locations · Electronics · first seen 2026-09-03
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Role Overview

This role is part of the Lunar Permanence business unit, which develops Blue Origin's Blue Moon landers. You will serve as the primary technical authority for Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) on the MK-1 lunar lander, working as part of a small, accomplished team. You will directly impact the history of space exploration and require dedicated commitment and detailed attention towards safe and repeatable spaceflight.

Development Flight Instrumentation

  • Serve as primary technical authority for DFI, leading the full subsystem lifecycle from concept, requirements definition, and architecture through design, analysis, integration, verification, and validation for lunar missions
  • Architect and design DFI solutions leveraging custom and COTS avionics hardware, including flight computing, signal conditioning, data acquisition systems, sensors, and harnessing
  • Design, integrate, and test flight hardware assemblies to verify functionality and robustness against system requirements and mission targets
  • Develop and maintain ground support equipment and test electronics (hardware and software) for instrumentation development, integration, and test campaigns
  • Maintain sensor lists and integration tracking documentation, ensuring accuracy of sensor allocations, locations, wiring/harness mapping, and status throughout vehicle integration
  • Coordinate and support sensor installation and integration activities with technicians and product teams to ensure correct placement, calibration, and functional checkout
  • Support product teams throughout test and flight operations, including real-time operation and monitoring of DFI systems, data management, and post-test data reduction
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with product teams to translate mission and vehicle requirements into instrumentation architectures
  • Drive make-vs-buy trade studies and technical decisions for instrumentation hardware and subsystems
  • Manage DFI subsystem budget, schedule, and cost; coordinate team activities, procure hardware, and manage contractor/vendor relationships
  • Prepare and deliver status reports and performance updates to stakeholders and leadership
  • Author and maintain documentation of best practices, lessons learned, and design standards for development flight instrumentation
  • Ensure DFI designs comply with relevant flight safety, reliability, and environmental requirements for lunar mission applications

Imaging System Design and Component Selection

  • Own the camera architecture across vehicle imaging needs: engineering situational awareness, deployment/separation witness cams, payload and customer-facing imagery, and mission documentation
  • Trade and select sensors, lenses, windows, filters, and ISPs against mission requirements; produce a documented link budget from photons-on-aperture to bits-on-the-ground
  • Drive resolution requirements top-down from mission needs into IFOV, MTF, focal length, sensor pitch, and integration time
  • Define dynamic range strategy for the lunar lighting environment; evaluate HDR sensors, dual/multi-gain readouts, exposure bracketing, log/PWL encoding, and tone mapping
  • Coordinate stray-light analysis for sun and Earth glare into the optics
  • Select and defend mounting locations against FOV coverage, occlusion by vehicle structure, thermal soak, and stray-light paths
  • Build and maintain the camera FOV and coverage model across mission phases: cruise, lunar orbit, descent, touchdown, and surface ops
  • Define imaging timelines, exposure plans, and on-board autoexposure logic against comms windows and downlink budget

Vehicle Integration

  • Help define mechanical interfaces: brackets, alignment tolerances, boresight calibration plan, contamination covers, sunshades, and articulated/deployable mounts
  • Help define electrical and data interfaces: connector pinouts, harness routing, power switching, sync/trigger, and the data path (CSI-2, GigE Vision, SpaceWire, Camera Link, LVDS, etc.) into Command and Data Handling and the downlink chain
  • Support development of photon budget, frame rate, resolution, bit depth, and compression versus on-board storage and downlink capability
  • Perform camera and DFI verification and validation: optical bench, thermal-vac, vibe/shock, EMI/EMC, radiation (TID/SEL/SEU per mission environment), and end-to-end functional with flight avionics

Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, Optical Engineering, or a related technical field
  • 5+ years of experience in avionics, instrumentation (including bridge PTs, RTDs, and accelerometers), and electro-optical/imaging systems engineering
  • Demonstrated experience owning a subsystem or hardware element across the full lifecycle: requirements, design, integration, and verification and validation
  • Working knowledge of networking equipment and common data/interface standards (e.g., LVDS, SpaceWire, GigE Vision, Camera Link, CSI-2, Ethernet)
  • Experience collaborating with component teams to define and document electrical and mechanical interfaces
  • Ability to review embedded hardware requirements and PCB schematics
  • Experience developing and executing test campaigns including C++ and Python scripting for DFI integration testing
  • Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot issues found in testing, isolate failures, and provide corrective action
  • Familiarity with aerospace system design requirements such as thermal, vibration, shock, EMI/EMC, acoustics, electrical grounding/bonding
  • Direct experience working with suppliers and resolving problems as they arise
  • Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

  • Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, Optical Engineering, or a related technical field
  • Direct experience with DFI on launch vehicles, spacecraft, or landers
  • Electro-optical/imaging systems design experience with space hardened camera
  • Experience designing hardware for the radiation environment (TID, SEL, SEU) and performing or supporting radiation testing
  • Experience with lunar, cislunar, or deep-space mission environments and constraints
  • Proficiency with analysis/scripting tools (e.g., Python, MATLAB) for data reduction and modeling
  • Familiarity with flight safety and reliability requirements and processes

Compensation

Base Pay Range for WA applicants: $121,023.00 - $169,432.20. 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 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 weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays

Employment Requirements

Applicants for employment at Blue Origin 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.

Blue's Standard Background Check is required for all positions.