Chief Engineer, Autonomous Spacecraft & SDA Systems

Blue Origin; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 210,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance provided

Travel approximately 25%

Job summary

Blue Origin is seeking a Chief Engineer, Space Vehicle Autonomy, to lead the architecture and maturation of autonomous decision-making for satellite platforms. The role partners with GN&C, perception, and systems engineering to craft a cohesive autonomy framework and SDA integration for national security missions.

The position requires deep expertise in traditional autonomy, AI/ML/CNN approaches, and leadership of engineering reviews, with travel ~25% and potential access to controlled

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in an engineering-related field.
• Minimum of 20 years of advanced spacecraft design, development, or analysis experience.
• Demonstrated experience as a technical authority or chief engineer on complex spacecraft/autonomy programs.
• Deep understanding of traditional autonomy mechanisms and AI/ML/CNN-based approaches.
• Experience adjudicating complex technical trade-offs and leading review boards.
• Understanding of national security space customer needs, CONOPS, and requirements.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical authority for space vehicle autonomy, setting architecture and strategy.
• Define and evolve the autonomy architecture across deterministic and ML-based approaches.
• Provide direction on OODA loop for Rendezvous and Proximity Operations mission profiles.
• Integrate SDA principles into onboard autonomy for space objects and activities.
• Lead strategies for perception stacks, sensor fusion, relative navigation and pose estimation.
• Oversee MLOps pipelines, including data curation, model validation, and lifecycle management.
• Define and own verification strategy across SIL/HIL test campaigns.

Skills

Technical authority

Autonomy engineering

AI/ML/CNN

Leadership of review boards

National security space

Systems engineering collaboration

Education

Bachelor of Science in engineering

Job description

Blue Origin is seeking a Chief Engineer, Space Vehicle Autonomy, to lead the architecture and maturation of autonomous decision-making for satellite platforms. The role partners with GN&C, perception, and systems engineering to craft a cohesive autonomy framework and SDA integration for national security missions.

The position requires deep expertise in traditional autonomy, AI/ML/CNN approaches, and leadership of engineering reviews, with travel ~25% and potential access to controlled