Systems Engineer, Thermal Hardware - Lunar Permanence

Blue Origin; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 107,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Stock options

Education Support Program

Parental leave

Paid Time Off

Job summary

Blue Origin is seeking a Thermal Engineer to contribute to the Lunar Core Components Heat Transfer team. You will help define thermal requirements, support hardware development, and drive testing and verification to enable safe lunar lander systems.

This role requires leadership, attention to detail, and a passion for space exploration. Responsibilities include coordinating with vehicle teams, performing first-principles analyses, and participating in design reviews.

Qualifications

• B.S. in engineering required.
• 3+ years related experience.
• Knowledge of systems engineering practices and quality control.
• Experience with flight integration and environmental qualification (thermal, vibration).
• Background in active thermal control hardware or thermal analysis.
• Spacecraft thermal control hardware design experience.

Responsibilities

• Define and decompose vehicle thermal requirements into actionable specs.
• Develop and maintain ICDs for subsystem compatibility.
• Own heat transfer component artifacts and documentation.
• Conduct trade studies and make/buy decisions for hardware.
• Drive verification and environmental testing planning.
• Participate in hardware design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR).
• Support integration, test, and launch operations with hardware team.

Skills

Systems thinking

Team leadership

Analytical mindset

Education

Bachelor's in Engineering

Master's in Engineering (preferred)

Tools

DOORS

Jama

MATLAB

Cameo

Thermal Desktop

Job description

Application Close Date

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

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 the Lunar Permanence business unit, which develops Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landers and related products. To further Blue Origin's mission of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth, we are building sustainable infrastructure for our transport of crew and cargo from Earth to the lunar surface.

As a key member of the Lunar Core Components Heat Transfer team, you will be applying your skills to provide thermal hardware expertise to our Lunar vehicle architectures.

In this role you will contribute to a team of Thermal Engineers simultaneously developing groundbreaking thermal hardware for lunar landers and driving those designs through build, test, and verification. We are looking for someone to apply their technical expertise, leadership skills, and commitment to quality to positively impact safe human spaceflight. Passion for our mission and vision is required!

Special Mentions

• Travel expected up to 20% of the time
• Relocation provided

Responsibilities Include But Are Not Limited To

• Define and decompose Vehicle Thermal and Other subsystem-level requirements into actionable specifications within the Core Thermal-Fluids Heat transfer component domain to ensure our hardware meets vehicle needs.
• Develop and maintain interface control documents (ICDs) with vehicle/s to ensure subsystem compatibility and integration fidelity.
• Ownership of heat transfer component artifacts such as specifications, safety products, and other documents.
• Conduct trade studies and make/buy decisions to determine hardware selection or optimization.
• Drive verification and validation planning, including environmental testing, functional checks, and mission simulations.
• Participate in hardware design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR) and ensure technical artifacts meet quality and compliance standards.
• Support integration, test, and launch operations with hardware design team, including anomaly resolution and post-launch analysis as required.
• Support schedule management of hardware engineering efforts and products, team coordination, and support make vs buy decisions, hardware procurement, and vendor management
• Identify process improvements, generate new ideas, and foster a culture of technical excellence and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ensuring alignment and synchronization of component analysis data with Vehicle system teams and interfacing subsystems such as Electrical Power, Liquids, Gas and GNC as required.
• Reviewing system level & thermal subsystem level CONOPS information and distilling into useable datasets for consumption by the thermal hardware teams
• Verifying compliance of hardware designs against documented requirements (such as temperature limits, AT/QT effort and so on)
• Facilitate hardware risk, FMECA and FTA discussions with relevant stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of a B.S. degree in engineering
• 3+ years of related experience.
• Knowledge of systems engineering best practices, integration processes, design for manufacturing, and quality control
• Demonstrated experience in requirement analysis, interface definition, and component and system-level verification and validation.
• Demonstrated experience with flight integration and environmental qualification (thermal, vibration, etc.).
• Understanding of subsystems and their thermal implications across the mission lifecycle.
• Background in active thermal control hardware or, thermal analysis.
• Demonstrated experience with spacecraft thermal control hardware design and development
• Ability to perform simple thermal assessments via first principles/hand calculations
• Experience with software tools such as DOORS, Jama, MATLAB, Cameo, Thermal Desktop etc. design and analysis tools.
• Demonstrated experience working interface control
• Demonstrated experience with requirements relaxation and challenging requirements to facilitate hardware development cycle.

Preferred Qualifications

• M.S. degree in engineering
• 5+ years of related experience.
• Strong communication skills, with an ability to quickly build consensus among stakeholders.
• Experience in space programs from concept through launch and operations.
• Hands-on experience with satellite ground systems and mission operations.
• Experience with data analysis (Matlab, Excel, Winplot, etc.), and scripting (bash, sh, Python, etc.) tools
• Experience evaluating make/buy decisions
• Expertise in active thermal control hardware, with a proven track record of flight hardware delivery
• Experience with sub-assembly and/or system level thermal balance tests and post-test design correlation and validation

Base Pay Range For

CA applicants is $107,136.00 - $149,990.40 CO applicants is $98,208.00 - $137,491.20 WA applicants is $107,136.00 - $149,990.40

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