Technical Program Director - MK2 Lunar Lander

About the role

This role is part of Blue Origin Operations, which includes Integrated Supply Chain, Test Operations, Safety, Quality, and Mission Assurance. It involves Manufacturing and Supply Chain support across all Blue Origin facilities.

Responsibilities

• Champion safety always and first-time quality, modeling Blue Origin's Leadership Principles and fostering a "One Team" mindset.
• Drive the financial and operational execution of a portfolio supporting the MK2 Alpha Lander vehicles across the Lunar Business Unit, partnering with finance on budget formulation, variance management, EAC discipline, and unit-cost performance while coordinating with the program, and operations leaders in SQMA, Engines Operations, New Glenn Operations, and advanced manufacturing on Integrate the MK2 Alpha Lander Operations team into the broader Blue Origin Operations organization, leveraging tools, processes, and best practices proven across the enterprise.
• Serve as a primary operational focal between Lunar Operations, the Lunar Business Unit, and NASA, coordinating customer engagements, milestone reviews, operational data exchange, and issue resolution, ensuring commitments stay aligned with execution capacity.
• Own the Operational Rhythm of Business for MK2 Alpha Lander Operations on behalf of the VP, Lunar Operations leadership reviews, working groups, decision logs, and the capture, tracking, and institutionalization of actions through to closure.
• Own the MK2 Alpha Lander Operations Risk Management process, identification, scoring, mitigation planning, escalation paths, and review cadence with the Lunar Operations Leadership Team.
• Own the MK2 Alpha Lander Operations Capital Expenditures Project (CapEx) Management process including portfolio prioritization, gate reviews, spend pacing, benefits tracking, and post-implementation reviews.
• Lead multi-year strategy development for the MK2 Alpha Lander supporting the Lunar Operations portfolio, aligning long-range capacity, capability, and investment plans with Lunar BU and program needs.
• Lead concurrent projects that deploy the Lunar Operational Strategy, factory flow, throughput, first-pass yield, supplier on-time delivery, and unit-cost reduction defining requirements, mapping interdependencies, and orchestrating cross-functional input.
• Identify, shape, and lead pivotal operations initiatives, deep diving into subject areas that lack a single-threaded owner and emergent organizational challenges, building solutions, then handing them off to permanent owners.
• Partner with manufacturing engineering, production, and design leadership to drive standard work, common components, capital and layout improvements, producibility, surfacing and resolving manufacturability issues early.
• Coordinate MK2 Alpha Lander Operations Quarterly Updates, all-hands presentations, and program updates while partnering with Lunar Operations and the Lunar Business Unit.
• Facilitate change management, evaluate, coordinate, and approve new requirements or process changes and propagate operational learnings and best practices across the enterprise.
• Provide leadership with data-driven reports, recommendations, and decision support, ensuring information is gathered, organized, and rendered to maximize decision speed, and influencing senior leadership to deliver on strategic business goals on time and on target.
• Analyze processes at the micro and macro levels and implement high-impact improvements that reduce unit cost, improve quality, and accelerate delivery schedules.

Requirements

• 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.
• Must have a BA or BS degree, or equivalent experience, with emphasis in Engineering, Operations Management, or Business.
• Must have 12+ years of progressive experience spanning manufacturing operations, program management, or operations integration.
• Must have demonstrated success leading large-scale, cross-functional change management initiatives that influenced culture, processes, and tools.
• Must have working knowledge of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma, including standard work definition and deviation tracking at the work-cell level.
• Must have experience operating in a low-volume, high-complexity manufacturing environment, with exposure to manufacturing, production, assembly, procurement, and logistics.
• Must have strong business acumen and the ability to balance technical, business, and organizational influences.
• Must have polished, executive-grade verbal, written, and data-driven communication skills, with proven ability to represent Operations in customer-facing settings, including milestone reviews, leadership briefings, and high-stakes issue resolution while landing the same message coherently with peers, internal stakeholders, suppliers, and the production floor.
• Must have demonstrated history of independent work foreseeing problems, delivering on commitments, and personal accountability.
• Must have an attitude of world-class mission assurance, quality, attention to detail, and dedication.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in engineering, operations, or business.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Earned Value Management (EVM / EVMS) with Cost Account Management experience.
• Proven experience navigating the development-to-production transition of a complex aerospace program.
• Exposure to multiple manufacturing processes and technologies such as metal machining, composites, aero structures, turbomachinery, soft goods, welding, harness, and electronics fabrication.
• Experience with Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems.
• Experience growing and developing diverse teams across a multi-business-unit integrated operations organization.
• Experience managing capital improvements and factory layout decisions.
• Experience serving as a customer-facing operational focal preferably with NASA or another government / prime-contractor customer including milestone reviews, operational data exchange, and contract / change coordination.
• Exceptional judgment and discretion when handling sensitive or confidential information.
• Strong business acumen with an understanding of industry dynamics marketplace trends, competitive landscape, and technology requirements for operational sustainability.