Thermal Protection System Lead - Lunar Permanence Verified today

This role is part of the Lunar Permanence business unit, which develops Blue Origin's Blue Moon landers. You will work directly with NASA as part of the Human Landing System (HLS) program, playing a key role in developing systems that will return humans to the Moon and extend human presence permanently beyond Earth.

You will be responsible for soft-goods thermal protection components including flexible blankets, felts, quilted assemblies, and high-temperature fabric systems. You will develop these components from conception through internal or external development, testing, and vehicle integration.

You will be part of the thermal design and analysis group, working closely with hardware delivery teams within Lunar Permanence. Your inputs will include mission timelines, environments, and design standards. Your outputs will include component specifications, test plans and reports, thermal analysis, development plans, and make/buy decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead thermal protection system design with focus on flexible and soft-goods solutions including material selection, stack configuration, and analysis.
• Own delivery and quality of the TPS system design and hardware solutions.
• Lead development and testing campaigns for new soft-goods materials and stack configurations such as quilted blankets, felted insulation, flexible ablators, and multi-layer insulation to meet thermal and mechanical requirements.
• Identify and develop flight implementation and installation approaches.
• Balance hardware design against cost and schedule.
• Perform trade studies and optimizations, collaborating with external subsystems on tradeoffs.
• Document design and analysis results and present at program gated reviews.
• Communicate progress to leadership via program management reviews, finance reviews, long-term forecasting, and project deep dives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree minimum
• 9 or more years relevant thermal engineering experience
• Solid understanding of thermal fundamentals
• Familiarity with soft-goods materials used in thermal protection systems including high-temperature fabrics (Nextel, quartz, silica, PBI), flexible felts, multi-layer insulation, and quilted blanket assemblies
• Demonstrated experience building and testing hardware in extreme environments
• Understanding of aerospace hardware verification and validation processes
• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion

Desired Qualifications

• M.S. or PhD degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering
• Solid understanding of high temperature material properties
• Familiarity with heritage reusable soft-goods TPS designs such as AFRSI, FRSI, and quilted/stitched blanket systems
• Proven experience taking novel designs through NASA certification
• Experience solving a variety of thermal problems demonstrating breadth in application
• Vendor technical management experience
• Familiarity with Thermal Desktop and Sinda/Fluint including model validation and test correlation
• Familiarity with DOE and testing procedures

Compensation

Base pay range varies by location: CA applicants $156,802 to $219,522.45; CO applicants $144,179 to $201,849.90; WA applicants $156,802 to $219,522.45.

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 Program
• Stock options for all regular employees working at least 20 hours per week
• Paid time off up to four weeks per year and up to 14 company-paid holidays

Employment Requirements

Applicants 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 required for all positions.