Sr. Structural Engineer

About the Role

This role supports the development and operations of New Glenn, a single-configuration, heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle capable of routinely carrying people and payloads to low-Earth orbit, geostationary transfer orbit, cislunar, and beyond. Its first stage is fully reusable, and the vehicle was designed from the beginning to be human-capable. As part of the New Glenn business unit, this team develops unique solutions for New Glenn’s government, Lunar, Orbital Reef, and crewed spacecraft customers. You will own hardware through the full lifecycle from design, analysis, manufacturing, and test, directly furthering Blue Origin's mission of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth.

Responsibilities

• Design, analysis, development, and testing of primary and secondary structures, including composites and metallic piece parts, as well as integrated structural assemblies
• Execute research, configuration development, and trade studies to meet performance, schedule, and cost targets
• Create CAD models, detail part drawings, assemblies, installations, and interface control documents
• Apply practical approaches to hardware fabrication and cost impacts
• Create test plans, specifications, and other documentation for the development and production of flight hardware
• Subsystem test planning, execution, data reduction and analysis, and test data review
• Review technical work of team members (drawings, analyses, test plans) to identify design improvements and ensure quality standards before release
• Balance customer solutions with documented, repeatable processes
• Proactively engage with manufacturing and have regular floor presence during critical build phases
• Identify design or manufacturing issues immediately and lead root cause analyses for moderate-scope NCs
• Maintain visual project status indicators (activity schedule, budget and technical status) for team transparency
• Work with multi-functional teams responsible for selecting materials, manufacturing processes, and suppliers to produce world-class aerospace hardware
• Respond to customer-driven schedules
• Manage multiple concurrent projects with attention to team capacity and sustainable pace
• Develop junior engineers into future technical leads through progressive delegation

Requirements

• Minimum of a B.S. degree in Mechanical or Aerospace engineering or equivalent technical field
• 5+ years related experience in structural design and analysis of automotive, aircraft, spacecraft, or launch vehicle structures
• Strong mechanical design and integration skills using 3D CAD software (Creo, CATIA V5, SolidWorks, AutoDesk or other industry standard software)
• Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerance analysis (ASME Y14.5) proficiency
• Structural design of metallic components and assemblies
• Vehicle load path distribution, and first order strength assessment and sizing
• Material selection, compatibility and manufacturing techniques
• Demonstrated ability to conduct structural analysis using hand-calculation and finite element techniques, using any industry standard software: Ansys, Nastran, Optistruct, LS Dyna, Hypermesh, Hypersizer
• Strong presentation, documentation and communications skills, with the ability to present the solution and build consensus among customers and New Glenn stakeholders
• Passion for building flight hardware and creativity for inventing new technology
• 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

Preferred Qualifications

• M.S. degree in Mechanical or Aerospace engineering or equivalent technical field
• Ability to iterate structural designs quickly while mission architecture and customer requirements are in flux, making sound engineering judgments with incomplete data
• Experience documenting and standardizing design processes, creating reusable templates and analysis workflows
• Experience on launch vehicles, aircraft, or similar in one or more of the following areas:
  • Design of minimal-mass structure
  • Design of composite structures and structural adhesive bonds
  • Design of cryogenic structures or propellant tanks
  • Design of baffles, anti-vortex devices, and other propellant management devices
  • Design of Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) such as spray on foam insulation (SOFI) or multi-layer insulation (MLI)
• Experience with full product lifecycle of design, test, and production
• Knowledge of design and fabrication considerations for composite structures
• Experience with Creo (Pro/E) Wildfire 5 or greater, Windchill 10
• Experience with Optimization and DOE methods as applied to design, analysis, and testing

Pay

Base Pay Range for CA and WA applicants is $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 a 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 (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays
• Dependent on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for additional benefits and bonuses based on individual contributions and company results