Sr Software Engineer

Blue Origin; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 198,000 - 277,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) with company match

Stock options

Paid time off

Job summary

Blue Origin’s Enterprise Technology division seeks a senior software engineering leader to guide a full-stack team in building scalable, distributed applications using AWS and AI-first methods. You will mentor engineers, own design delivery, and balance technical debt with feature delivery in a fast-paced environment.

The role emphasizes governance, observability, and collaboration across teams, with a strong focus on operational excellence and customer-aligned roadmapping.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of experience as a software engineer delivering enterprise-grade distributed applications, with ≥3 years in a technical leadership role.
• Advanced knowledge of agile development practices for the full SDLC including coding standards, reviews, CI/CD, security, testing, and operations.
• Deep understanding of microservice architectures and containerized/serverless environments with debugging complex distributed systems.
• Experience with AWS and infrastructure-as-code.
• Proven ability to advance AI-first engineering practices and coach teams on AI-assisted development.
• Strong architectural judgment and decision-making in ambiguous problems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication across technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Act as a technical lead for a full-stack software team, owning design and delivery with minimal oversight.
• Advance technical implementation, balance priorities, and manage technical debt vs features.
• Drive AI-first development using AI tools to boost productivity and capabilities.
• Steward operations: incidents, root cause analysis, and recovery planning; participate in on-call rotations.
• Mentor and train engineers, promote code quality, and grow team skills.
• Engage customers and product managers to identify pain points and guide roadmap decisions.
• Support process improvements and tooling to enhance development and operations.
• Represent the team in cross-organizational coordination and stakeholder engagement.

Skills

Technical leadership

SDLC & DevOps

AWS & IaC

AI-first engineering

Microservices & containers

Code reviews

Communication

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Java/Spring Boot

React/TypeScript

Python

Job description

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight!

This role is part of Enterprise Technology (ET), where we’re developing the digital infrastructure needed to build the road to space, with an emphasis on digital capabilities required to advance Blue Origin’s mission. Enterprise Technology is the center of excellence for digital technology at Blue Origin, providing oversight and governance to align technology and business strategies.

Our team within ET builds the digital infrastructure that enables Blue Origin to rapidly and safely maintain reusable space assets at scale.

As part of a development team, you will use the latest AWS and GenAI platforms and approaches to accelerate the development and adoption of data-driven software capabilities across Blue Origin in service of Blue's mission and beyond. This position requires a passion for innovation, bias for action and a commitment to operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Act as a technical lead for a full-stack software development team (Scrum), owning the design, delivery, and planning of improvements across multiple systems with no day-to-day oversight
• Advance the technical implementation of projects, resolving competing priorities, providing early level-of-effort estimates, and actively balancing technical debt against feature delivery
• Champion and drive an AI-first development methodology, leveraging AI technologies and tools (e.g., LLMs, agentic workflows, code generation tools like Claude Code) to enhance team productivity, software capabilities, and engineering innovation
• Steward operational excellence across the team's systems — lead anomaly investigations, root cause analyses, and recovery plans; participate in on-call escalation and incident response
• Lead, mentor, and train team members on engineering techniques, code quality standards, and system operation; cultivate code review culture as a mechanism for both quality and growth
• Proactively engage customers and product managers to identify pain points, validate solutions, and inform roadmap decisions
• Advance process improvements and lead tooling development across the team's projects to build excellence in development and system operation
• Represent the team as a prime contact on projects requiring coordination between organizations; develop relationships within and outside the team
• Participate in on-call production support rotation (regular business hours)

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent work experience
• 10+ years of experience as a software engineer developing enterprise-grade distributed applications, with at least 3 years in a technical leadership role owning multiple systems and collaborating across teams
• Advanced knowledge of agile development practices for the full SDLC including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, security, testing, continuous integration/deployment, and system operation
• Deep technical understanding of modern microservice-based architectures and containerized or serverless environments, with the ability to debug complex system failures across distributed services
• Experience developing and operating services in AWS with infrastructure-as-code
• Demonstrated ability to advance AI-first engineering practices — integrating AI-powered tools into development workflows, evaluating and adopting new AI technologies, and coaching teams on effective AI-assisted development
• Advanced technical judgment in selecting methods, techniques, and architectural trade-offs for complex problems with ambiguous requirements
• Proven ability to lead through informal authority — mentoring engineers, driving technical direction, and being accountable for delivery outcomes
• Excellent written and verbal communication with both technical and non-technical audiences
• A passion for innovation, learning and sharing knowledge

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Java/Spring Boot, React/TypeScript, and Python
• Experience with data-intensive applications and streaming/event-driven architectures
• AWS Associate or Professional Certification
• Track record of introducing and operationalizing AI/GenAI tools within an engineering team
• Experience working in GovCloud or other highly regulated environments
• Experience leading operational excellence initiatives (SLOs, observability, incident management)
• Interest in developing innovative systems using Generative AI
• Manufacturing and/or Aerospace experience

Base Pay Range For

WA applicants is $197,529.00 - $276,539.55

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.

Background Check

• Required for all positions: Blue’s Standard Background Check
• Required for Certain Job Profiles: Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) background check if at any time the role requires one to be on a military installation
• Required for Certain Job Profiles: Drivers who operate Commercial Motor Vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) or combination of power unit and trailer that meets or exceeds 10,001 lbs. and/or transports placardable amounts of hazardous materials by ground in any vehicle on a public road while in commerce, may be subject to additional Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations including: Driver Qualification Files, Medical Certification (obtained before onboarding), Road Test, Hours of Service, Drug and Alcohol Testing, vehicle inspection requirements, CDL requirements (if applicable) and hazardous materials transportation/shipping training.
• Required for certain Job Profiles: Ability to obtain and maintain Merchant Mariner Credential, which includes pre-employment and random drug testing as well as DOT physical

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.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Blue Origin is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is committed to attracting, retaining, and developing a highly qualified and dedicated work force. Blue Origin hires and promotes people on the basis of their qualifications, performance, and abilities. We support the establishment and maintenance of a workplace that fosters trust, equality, and teamwork. We provide all qualified applicants for employment and employees with equal opportunities for hire, promotion, and other terms and conditions of employment, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin/ethnicity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local law. Blue Origin will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the Washington Fair Chance Act, the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles Fair Chance in Hiring Ordinance, and other applicable laws. For more information on “Know Your Rights,” please see here.

Affirmative Action and Disability Accommodation

Applicants wishing to receive information on Blue Origin’s Aff…? Please contact us at [e-mail]. Please note this is a publicly managed inbox. Please do not include any personal medical information in your request.