Sr Director, Launch Vehicles Verified today

The Role

As Senior Director for Launch Vehicles, you will own the technical strategy, operational execution, and organizational leadership for every team that turns a flown or newly built booster, second stage, and payload into a rocket ready to fly. Reporting to the Vice President of Launch Operations, you will lead the functions that refurbish and inspect flown boosters, integrate booster and second stage, attach and prepare payloads, and stand up a new vertical vehicle integration capability.

This is a mission-critical leadership role. You must drive relentlessly toward results, unencumbered by established processes, and constantly invent new ways to solve problems. You must be willing to get hands-on with engineers and technicians on the vehicle itself when the mission requires it, including at any hour. Your long-term measure of success is building the people, processes, and discipline that empower Launch Operations teams to operate at a fast, repeatable cadence.

What You'll Do

Own the Technical Strategy for Vehicle Preparation

• Own the technical strategy and standards for refurbishing, integrating, and preparing all New Glenn vehicles (booster, second stage, and payload) for launch
• Architect the roadmap for a new vertical vehicle integration capability, building on lessons learned from horizontal integration operations
• Set and enforce the standard for high-quality, executable work orders (clear, sequenced, measurable, and completable by shift) so launch readiness is derived from objective data
• Partner with vehicle design and engineering teams to challenge requirements and drive design changes that make the vehicle easier, faster, and safer to build, inspect, and refurbish

Lead Full Lifecycle Execution Across Vehicle Preparation

• Oversee the complete lifecycle of vehicle preparation: inspection, refurbishment, and re-certification of flown boosters; integration of booster and second stage; and attachment of payloads
• Provide technical and operational authority across booster refurbishment, vehicle integration, payload attachment, and vertical integration functions
• Manage technical and schedule risk across the vehicle preparation portfolio; when schedule slips, personally own and drive the recovery plan
• Perpetuate a high-standard safety culture across all vehicle preparation work, given significant personnel, process, and material hazards
• Be willing to get on the ground with engineers and technicians to solve problems directly on the vehicle, at any hour, when the mission requires it

Drive Cross-Functional Integration

• Serve as the primary point of contact between vehicle preparation functions and New Glenn vehicle design/engineering, pad, and recovery leadership
• Partner with business operations (scheduling and operations analytics) to maintain an objective, data-driven view of remaining work and schedule risk
• Build the organization's own engineering ownership and judgment over time, reducing reliance on borrowed engineering support from other programs

Build and Lead a High-Performing Organization

• Build, mentor, and develop a bench of leaders and engineers capable of running vehicle preparation at a much higher rate
• Take difficult, immature processes and mature them into fast, repeatable operations that don't require nightly heroics
• Foster a culture where every technician and engineer is genuinely excited about Blue Origin's mission and understands the why behind the work
• Champion the use of AI to reduce engineering workload and accelerate the ramp of less experienced engineers

Deliver Results

• Use your own data and numerical analysis to understand team performance, drive decisions, and communicate progress
• Present vehicle readiness, risk, and recovery plans with clarity and confidence to senior executive leadership
• Drive measurable improvement in vehicle turnaround time, refurbishment capacity, and launch readiness as Blue Origin ramps toward higher launch cadence

What You'll Bring

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Industrial Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience building and leading complex vehicle or aircraft programs
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience building, integrating, or maintaining complex vehicles, aircraft, or other high-reliability systems (aerospace, defense, marine, oil and gas, or similar heavy/complex-machine environments)
• Senior leadership experience with budget and resource management responsibility for technical/operational organizations
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams at scale, including leadership through subordinate managers/directors
• A specific, demonstrated track record of driving measurable rate or throughput improvements in a complex manufacturing, assembly, or operations environment
• A demonstrated track record of building and perpetuating a high-standard safety culture in environments with significant personnel, process, or material hazards
• Demonstrated ability to make high-stakes technical and operational decisions under schedule pressure
• Strong executive presence with excellent written and verbal communication skills; demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders at all levels, including senior executive leadership
• Strategic thinker with a bias for action and a track record of hands-on operational execution

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience in final assembly, integration, or maintenance of military or civilian aircraft, weapons systems, or launch vehicles
• Full lifecycle experience in vehicle assembly, integration, test, or manufacturing, from requirements through production
• A track record of taking a new vehicle, aircraft, or complex product from first-unit production to rate production
• Hands-on experience as an aircraft mechanic (or similar trade) and/or as a manufacturing engineer
• Working knowledge of aerospace standards and workmanship requirements
• A demonstrated track record of challenging engineering requirements and successfully driving design changes to improve manufacturability or maintainability
• Experience building or scaling an engineering/technical organization from a nascent, dependent state to self-sufficiency
• Master's degree in a related engineering field, or an MBA

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.

Background check required for all positions.