Principal Systems Engineer — Lunar Human Landing System (HLS) Verified today
About the Role
You will serve as a principal systems engineer and technical authority for Blue Origin's Human Landing System (HLS) in the Lunar Permanence business unit. You will help define the lander that carries astronauts to the lunar surface and returns them safely to Orion. Working on the System Definition & Certification team, you will own requirements, system safety, verification and validation, and certification across the vehicle.
The right person treats requirements, verification, and system safety as instruments of the mission to land humans safely on the Moon, not as an end in themselves. You are comfortable defending why a leaner approach meets customer intent and have the track record to make that case land.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as principal technical authority for system-level engineering across requirements, system safety, and V&V, spanning multiple vehicle areas and inter-element seams
- Set technical standards and methods for requirements decomposition, verification planning and closure, and hazard disposition, and earn adoption across the team and design IPTs
- Resolve the most ambiguous, highest-consequence technical problems, including cross-cutting integration and inter-element issues with no established approach
- Carry system-level technical decisions and reviews; represent the team's technical positions to leadership and NASA
- Define and continuously improve requirements, safety, and V&V processes; set standards for how work gets done and earn adoption across the program and NASA in practice
- Act as senior working-level technical interface with NASA on requirements, verification, and system safety
- Bring NASA a rationale for why Blue's approach meets their needs and intent, starting from what is right for the lander rather than defaulting to precedent
- Set direction for lean, tool-driven methods (Jama, Cameo, Windchill, DOORS) that remove manual effort at team scale
- Design workflows that are lean by construction: minimize hand-offs, favor tool-driven workflows, and cut steps that do not advance mission assurance
Minimum Qualifications
- B.S. in aerospace, systems, or related engineering field (advanced degree preferred; advanced degree may substitute for a portion of experience requirement)
- 10+ years of systems engineering experience with demonstrated technical authority and/or system-level technical leadership across requirements, system safety, and V&V
- Demonstrated ownership across the full SE lifecycle: requirements, safety, integration, and V&V, with familiarity across multiple functional areas
- Track record as a recognized go-to technical expert for a major system or program, solving problems and setting methods others adopted
- Proven ability to set technical standards and earn their adoption across teams without relying on positional authority
- Demonstrated success as a customer-facing technical interface (NASA or comparable government/prime customer), negotiating and defending requirements, verification, and safety positions
- Deep fluency with SE tooling (Jama, Cameo, Windchill, DOORS) and judgment to set tool and method direction that reduces manual effort at scale
- Executive-level communication: able to make a rigorous, risk-based case to senior leadership and external customers
- Demonstrated mentoring of engineers to higher performance
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree in an engineering or technical discipline
- Direct experience with human-rated spaceflight (NASA HSF, Commercial Crew, Artemis/HLS, or comparable crewed vehicle)
- Prior lead or principal systems engineering role on a vehicle or major element
- Experience from safety-critical or regulated industry (medical devices, commercial aviation, nuclear, automotive) as a recognized technical authority on requirements, verification, or safety for a complex product
- History of introducing tools or methods adopted at organizational scale that measurably cut cycle time or error rate
- Breadth across multiple lifecycle phases (design through operations) and familiarity with certification processes
Compensation and Location
Base pay range varies by location:
CA: $169,624.00 - $237,473.25
CO: $160,618.00 - $224,864.85
WA: $169,624.00 - $237,473.25
Other site ranges may differ.
Relocation provided. Travel expected up to 25% of the time to support NASA coordination, partner engagement, and cross-site activities. Multiple positions available.
Additional Information
Interviews will include a technical assessment. Applications accepted on an ongoing basis until requisition closure.