Blue Origin

Senior Lunar Manufacturing Tooling Designers

Blue Origin • $134K — $188K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • B.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience.
  • 10+ years in manufacturing engineering, tooling design, or GSE design, preferably in aerospace.
  • Experience in designing and implementing tooling and complex GSE for mechanical assemblies.
  • Proficient in 3D CAD tools and engineering design fundamentals, including GD&T and tolerance analysis.
  • Extensive experience in production operations, improving processes, and ensuring compliance with safety and quality standards.
  • Ability to perform hand calculations for structural analysis of tooling and GSE.
  • Strong communication and collaboration skills, with a high degree of independence.

Responsibilities

  • Design tooling and Ground Support Equipment (GSE) for efficient manufacturing and assembly of flight hardware.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop new build processes and tooling concepts.
  • Support builds of engineering demonstrators and prototype hardware, providing hands-on fabrication and testing support.
  • Implement Design for Excellence (DFX) principles and conduct producibility assessments.
  • Define and refine tooling and GSE requirements for rapid design and fabrication.
  • Develop and maintain engineering documentation, including CAD models and specifications.
  • Support tooling fabrication and continuous improvement for safe and efficient production.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance options.
  • Paid parental leave and short/long-term disability coverage.
  • 401(k) plan with up to 5% company match.
  • Stock options for regular employees working at least 20 hours/week.
  • Up to four weeks of paid time off and 14 company-paid holidays.
Full Job Description

Application close date:

Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the requisition is closed.

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


Job Description

As part of Blue Origin’s Lunar Permanence team, you will work with specialists, technicians, and engineers to develop and implement manufacturing and production processes that support the development and production of lunar vehicles, with a strong emphasis on tooling and Ground Support Equipment (GSE) design.

You will translate design requirements into effective tooling, GSE solutions, and production systems that enable efficient, high-quality aerospace hardware manufacturing. This role supports the full lifecycle of tooling and GSE development, including requirements definition, concept and detailed design, fabrication coordination, validation, implementation, and continuous improvement.

You will also develop and release engineering artifacts, provide guidance to design engineering to improve manufacturability, assembly, test, and integration, and ensure processes, tooling, GSE, and procedures comply with engineering specifications, contract requirements, safety standards, and applicable regulations.

Special Mentions

  • Location: Kent, WA
  • Relocation provided
  • Travel expected up to 10% of the time
  • First Shift (Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm)
  • Interviews will include a technical assessment
     

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

  • Design tooling, fixtures, handling equipment, and Ground Support Equipment supporting efficient manufacturing, assembly, integration, and test of flight hardware, with an emphasis on modularity, usability, and rapid implementation.
  • Work directly with cross-functional teams, including design engineering, manufacturing engineering, technicians, quality, and operations, to develop new or revised build processes, tooling concepts, and concepts of operations.
  • Plan for and support builds of engineering demonstrators, test articles, and prototype hardware, providing hands-on support during fabrication, assembly, and testing to validate manufacturing approaches.
  • Drive Design for Excellence (DFX) principles, conduct producibility assessments, support trade studies, and develop roadmaps to bridge manufacturing technology gaps.
  • Proactively drive the definition, development, and refinement of tooling and GSE requirements to enable rapid design, fabrication, deployment, and iteration.
  • Develop, release, and maintain engineering documentation, including CAD models, drawings, specifications, procedures, and other artifacts required to support tooling and production implementation.
  • Support tooling fabrication, validation, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient production of lunar vehicle hardware.
     

Minimum Qualifications

  • B.S. degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Manufacturing Engineering, or related technical discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
  • 10+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, tooling design, GSE design, production support, or hardware development, preferably in aerospace or another highly regulated industry.
  • Demonstrated experience designing, developing, releasing, and implementing tooling, assembly fixtures, handling equipment, test support equipment, or other complex GSE for mechanical assemblies.
  • Proficiency with 3D CAD tools, engineering design fundamentals, GD&T, tolerance analysis, design for manufacturability/assembly, and configuration-controlled documentation.
  • Extensive experience supporting production operations, including working with technicians, resolving nonconformances, improving processes, and ensuring compliance with engineering, safety, quality, and regulatory requirements.
  • Demonstrated experience using hand-calculations for structural analysis of tooling and GSE strength, stability, and failure modes.
  • Experience using issue-tracking tools and Microsoft Office applications used to develop, release, and manage engineering documentation and production support tasks.
  • The ideal candidate will possess excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills, a high degree of independence, a strong sense of urgency, and the ability to thrive in a highly dynamic and sometimes ambiguous environment.
  • Flexibility to support critical milestones, which may require extended hours.

 

Preferred Qualifications

  • High proficiency in Creo, CATIA, NX, Windchill, or similar CAD/PLM tools, including configuration-controlled design release.
  • Experience using ANSYS or similar FEA tools to evaluate tooling and GSE for strength, stiffness, stability, and load-case requirements.
  • Experience working within Model-Based Definition (MBD) design environments.

 


 

Base Pay Range for:

WA applicants is $134,434.00 - $188,207.25

Other site ranges may differ


Benefits

  • Benefits include:  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%, and an 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 benefits and bonuses based on the company's intent to reward individual contributions and enable them to share in the company's results, or other factors at the company's sole discretion. Bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and subject to change and cancellation. Please check with your recruiter for more details.

About Blue Origin

Blue Origin is an aerospace company that develops rockets and spacecraft for commercial and government customers. The company's products include the New Shepard suborbital vehicle and the New Glenn orbital rocket. Blue Origin was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos and is headquartered in Kent, Washington.
Learn more about Blue Origin
Size
3,000 employees
Industry
Founded
2000

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Blue Origin

More Aerospace & Defense Jobs

Find similar Senior Lunar Manufacturing Tooling Designers jobs: