New Glenn Drone Specialist – Mission Ops

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! 

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 supports the development and operations of New Glenn a single-configuration heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of routinely carrying people and payloads to Earth's orbit and beyond. Engineered with a reusable first stage and a seven-meter payload fairing, New Glenn is building the road to space.

As part of a hardworking team of specialists and technicians, you will work hands-on as a Drone Specialist to serve as a primary point of contact for drone operations at LC36 in Cape Canaveral, FL. This role will support New Glenn missions and testing while managing all aspects of the drone program including operations, maintenance, training, regulatory compliance, and cross-functional coordination.

This position will be responsible for aligning operators at the site to meet operational demands, and ensuring compliance with federal and enterprise-level requirements across all drone operations.

We are looking for someone to apply their technical expertise, organizational skills, and commitment to quality to positively impact safe human spaceflight. Passion for our mission and vision is required!  

• Organize and lead the execution of all New Glenn drone activities, prioritizing media events, but also developing the use of drones for additional technical operations.
• Act as a New Glenn drone operator
• Develop and conduct pilot and Visual Observer (VO) training
• Manage operator coverage
  • Develop a roster of part-time Blue operators sufficient to provide redundant 24/7 coverage of all required drone events; ensure they have the qualifications and skills to provide high quality feeds, and assign their event coverage
  • Source and hire contractor operators as required
• Implement and maintain comprehensive asset management plan:
  • Analyze and recommend proper drone assets for each mission against mission requirements
  • Track and conduct preventive maintenance on all drone systems
  • Develop and manage safety stock plan for critical components
• Coordinate with operations and media teams to support mission coverage and strategy:
  • Evaluate and commit to all media requirements, including all technical requirements to deliver drone feeds to requested endpoints
  • Operationalize all nominal drone activities by building repeatable timelines, coding all operations into Jules workorders, and executing all nominal drone ops through Jules
  • Develop flight plans to meet coverage needs
  • Organize and execute all test runs and pre-event meetings
  • Work with media POCs to develop evolving drone capabilities
• Manage FAA coordination, Range coordination, and all regulatory compliance:
  • Coordinate with FAA and Range for specialty waivers/permissions
  • Ensure all operations meet regulatory requirements

• Current FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification with evidence of professional drone piloting experience
• Demonstrated experience managing drone operations in complex environments
• Demonstrated experience creating schedules for complex operations and meeting deadlines
• Strong understanding of FAA drone regulations and waiver processes
• Knowledge of drone maintenance procedures and asset management
• Excellent project management and organizational skills
• Strong communication and interpersonal abilities for cross-functional coordination
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities
• Willingness to frequently flex work hours to nights and weekends as needed to support missions

• Coding skills, including the use of AI to create simple apps and perform data analysis
• Experience developing and implementing training programs
• Experience in aerospace operations, particularly in test environments

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.