Principal Manufacturing Engineer - Fabrication Operations

You will use your engineering expertise to organize and drive improvements across our fabrication and manufacturing operations. As Principal Manufacturing Engineer, you will lead planning, executing, and monitoring project campaigns — including new factory setup and optimization of existing operations.

You will build strong working relationships with key internal and external stakeholders/partners and factor the health and importance of those relationships into your engineering decisions and approach. We are looking for someone to apply their technical expertise, leadership skills, and commitment to quality to innovate current processes and implement new processes and technologies critical to our success.

Bias for action and passion for our mission and vision are required. This role demands attention to detail, highly developed communication skills, execution with urgency, and the ability to work under minimal direction.

• ◆Lead the stand-up of new manufacturing centers, from concept through operational readiness, with an emphasis on automation and scalable, efficient factory design.
• ◆Drive optimization of existing operations — improving throughput, quality, cost, and cycle time across the fabrication and manufacturing environment.
• ◆Work the entire manufacturing cycle, or at significant technical depth across multiple discipline-specific areas, independently and with no oversight.
• ◆Own strategic initiatives, technology maturation, and best-practice capture, contributing to company objectives in creative and effective ways.
• ◆Develop advanced techniques, methods, procedures, and criteria required for hardware manufacturing and delivery, guiding them into final production-ready processes.
• ◆Lead anomaly investigations, root cause analyses (RCCA), and recovery plans for complex development and production issues.
• ◆Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers and project teams, setting technical direction across the organization.
• ◆Develop and manage relationships across the company and with external partners, serving as an organizational spokesperson on advanced projects and programs.
• ◆Hold responsibility for schedule, budget, milestones, and/or program technical approval authority.

• ✓Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or related Engineering discipline.
• ✓10+ years of manufacturing/production engineering experience
• ✓Demonstrated experience standing up manufacturing centers / new factory setup.
• ✓Strong foundation in manufacturing automation and automated production systems.
• ✓Advanced knowledge of manufacturing methodologies, tooling capabilities, secondary processes, and Design for Manufacturability (DFM).
• ✓Advanced application of GD&T, modeling, drawing practices, and change management.
• ✓Proven ability to lead root cause analysis and corrective action on major-scope nonconformances.
• ✓Advanced understanding of material properties, specification authoring, and management of ATP/QTP testing.
• ✓Ability to interpret engineering drawings/models and apply their specific intent.
• ✓Experience with Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).
• ✓Experience with lean manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies.

• ✓Advanced degree in an engineering discipline.
• ✓Experience in aerospace, propulsion, or other high-reliability manufacturing environments.
• ✓Recognized subject matter expert internally and/or externally; participation in technical committees or societies.
• ✓Track record leading company-wide tool development and process improvement initiatives.

Culture Statement

Don’t meet all desired requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single desired qualification. At Blue Origin, we are dedicated to building an authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every desired qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Export Control Regulations

Applicants for employment at Blue Origin must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e. current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.