Sr. Manager – Landing Gear Subsystem

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! 

We are a dynamic team of collaborators, doers, and problem-solvers who are relentlessly committed to a culture of safety. This position will directly impact the history of space exploration and will require your commitment and detailed attention toward safe and repeatable spaceflight. Join us in lowering the cost of access to space and enabling Blue Origin's vision of millions of people living and working in space to benefit Earth.

This role supports the development and operations of New Glenn — a heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle capable of routinely carrying people and payloads to low-Earth orbit, geostationary transfer orbit, cislunar, and beyond. The fully reusable Stage 1 booster (GS1-9E, powered by nine BE-4 engines) is central to Blue Origin's mission of dramatically lowering the cost of access to space through rapid reuse.

As the Sr. Manager for the New Glenn Stage 1 Landing Gear Subsystem, you will report to the Senior Director of the GS1-9E Aft Module and have responsibility for executing the design, development, test, qualification, and production of a new, clean-sheet Landing Gear Subsystem for the New Glenn 2.0 booster. You will lead a small, high-performing team of approximately ten engineers, driving a design philosophy centered on reusability, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness — setting new precedents for speed and efficiency along the way.

• Meet and exceed aggressive schedule, cost, and performance requirements while setting new precedents for engineering speed and efficiency

• Champion a design philosophy of reusability, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness across the full Landing Gear Subsystem scope

• Plan and coordinate the resources necessary to successfully design, build, test, qualify, and certify the New Glenn Stage 1 Landing Gear Subsystem

• Manage the GS1 Landing Gear Subsystem through the entire lifecycle — from clean-sheet design and development through qualification and rate production

• Lead the team in source selection for procured commodities, and drive supplier selection and management

• Identify, track, and mitigate risks to technical performance, cost, and schedule

• Lead and develop the team through hiring, training, and mentoring, while providing hands-on technical leadership and setting a high standard for engineering rigor

• Meet recurring cost targets and manage risks and opportunities against per-flight cost requirements consistent with a rapidly reusable booster

• Establish, maintain, and report on team safety products, fault trees, reliability assessments, component-level failure mode assessments, and operational hazards

• Coordinate closely with internal manufacturing and supplier organizations to execute first-time system builds and resolve technical and schedule issues

• Passion for our mission and vision

• B.S. in an aerospace, mechanical, or systems engineering-related field, with 8+ years of complex mechanical systems development experience

• Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor a technical team, balancing strong technical leadership with people development

• Highly organized leader with excellent technical written and verbal communication skills and a demonstrated track record of resourcefulness, strong business and technical judgment, and bias for action

• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, with the ability to travel in support of program, customer, and supplier activities

• Experience in project planning and successful execution of projects to cost and schedule targets

• Familiarity with design drawing and GD&T practices, CREO and Windchill design lifecycle tools, and structural analysis tools and practices such as ANSYS

• M.S. in aerospace, mechanical, or systems engineering, with experience in launch vehicle development, production, and operations

• Experience developing reusable flight hardware or mechanisms with an emphasis on refurbishment, rate production, and per-flight cost reduction

• Experience with landing systems, deployable mechanisms, dampers/actuators, or touchdown/loads-driven design

• MBA, Program Management Professional (PMP) certification, and Earned Value Management System (EVMS) experience. Experience with critical-path scheduling, IMP/IMS, risk management, requirements management, and Cost Account Management such as EVM

• Strong business management acumen and experience managing geographically dispersed programs with major subcontractors

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.