Sr. Systems Engineer - Fault Management & System Autonomy,

Application close date:

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! 

As part of a hardworking team of engineers, you will ensure our spacecraft satisfies the needs of our customers and partners, and crafts the larger vehicle fault management architecture to enable us to successfully implement the required capabilities for our mission. As a member of the Spacecraft Systems Engineering team, you will be responsible for developing our fault management and system autonomy (FMSA) architecture with an emphasis on associated processes, products, and analyses over all mission phases. You will work with fault protection and system autonomy requirements development, testing, validation, and verification efforts. The position requires strong collaboration within the SSE team and across the entire program. In this fast-paced and dynamic environment, you will contribute to innovative solutions while demonstrating personal leadership, technical competence and judgement, and a commitment to the highest technical standards.

We are looking for someone to apply their technical expertise, leadership skills, and dedication to quality to increase accessibility to space. Passion for our mission and vision is required! If you’re excited by providing near-term value, solving novel problems, and expanding your technical toolkit, please apply!

• Relocation assistance provided
• Travel is expected to be up to approximately 15% of the time.
• TS/SCI with CI poly is required
• Located in the Greater Seattle area.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Establish and design fault management architectures including design principles and requirements
• Asist in the definition of redundancy architecture, including cross-strapping and fault containment regions for integrated systems
• Lead the architecture, design, and analysis of autonomous behaviors, modes, and states
• Direct engineering activities including Failure Modes Effects and Criticality Analyses (FMECA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Functional Hazard Analyses (FHAs), Probabilistic Risk Assessments (PRA), reliability analyses, and developing mitigation plans
• Plan and execute integrated system Fault Management and Autonomy Verification and Validation programs
• Monitor and approve fault management and autonomy design, development, and test
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to other engineers across the program and company
• Perform as the primary FMSA engineer for spacecraft development programs.
• Collaborate across Blue Ring FMSA engineers to develop best practices and find opportunities for common architectures across certain platforms where practical

• Minimum of a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering or related field
• 10+ years of related experience in the design, development, and test of aerospace systems, preferably spacecraft.
• Demonstrated experience with fault-tolerance strategies and architectures for safety and mission critical systems
• Experience with autonomous system design, analysis, and test
• Experience with most of the lifecycle development of aerospace systems, including requirement definition, design solution definition, implementation, integration, verification and validation, qualification, commissioning, and operation
• First principles knowledge of major spacecraft subsystems
• Experience with performing and leading safety analyses including Failure Modes Effects and Criticality Analyses (FMECA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Functional Hazard Analyses (FHAs), and Human Error Assessments
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, fluid schematics, and electrical circuit diagrams
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills, and ability to communicate technical information to non-technical partners
• Ability to form relationships with experts from varying engineering fields and provide constructive feedback about FMSA, safety, and reliability concerns
• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to our inclusive culture.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast paced, dynamic work environment
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

• M.S. or PhD in aerospace engineering or related field
• Experience performing system safety and/or reliability analyses on satellites or human-rated in-space systems
• Strong safety and mission assurance fundamentals
• Experience performing compliance assessment of system safety processes and products against external standards including Range Safety, NASA, FAA, MIL-STD-882, or ARP-4761
• Process ownership and maintenance experience
• Knowledge of fault-tolerance strategies and architectures for safety and mission critical systems
• Knowledge of autonomous system design, analysis, and test
• Experience defining and performing complex trade studies
• Experience with design, development, and certification of human spaceflight systems, avionics system architectures and designs, and radiation environments/effects
• Experience with logical and physical architecture definition and decomposition
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing

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

Base Pay Range for:

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.