New Glenn - Principal Software Engineer

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 supports the development and operations of New Glenn, a single-configuration, heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle capable of routinely carrying people and payloads to low-Earth orbit, geostationary transfer orbit, cislunar, and beyond. Its first stage is fully reusable, and the vehicle was designed from the beginning to be human-capable.

We are seeking an exceptionally talented and experienced Principal Software Engineer to lead the technical strategy for New Glenn's Data Engineering, Software, and Automation (DESA) team. This dynamic org is responsible for ensuring New Glenn has the software applications required to design, produce, and operate New Glenn launch vehicles at rate. This includes direct ownership of two systems engineering platforms and indirect advisement on enterprise technology strategy. These systems are used daily by thousands of users and are essential to our ambitious business goals. Join us as a leader in Blue's orbital launch vehicle organization.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Lead technical strategy and vision across multiple domains, including design, test, systems engineering, and flight operations.

• Present complex technical strategies to senior leadership, including Senior Vice Presidents and potentially the CEO.

• Collaborate with other engineers and organization leaders (enterprise technology, central engineering) to architect, design, and execute our ambitious technical roadmap.

• Identify and implement novel applications of AI to enhance user experiences and software development efficiency.

• Utilize a diverse range of technologies such as DynamoDB, RDS, SQS, SNS, React, Java, DataBricks, GraphQL, REST APIs, etc.

• Promote software best practices across the entire organization including CI/CD, modular architectures, comprehensive testing, scalable systems, etc.

• Champion operational excellence by reducing technical debt, maintaining low ticket counts, ensuring high availability, minimizing mean time to recovery, and implementing extensive monitoring and alarms.

• Lead technical design reviews across the organization.

• Extensively mentor software developers up to the Senior SDE level.

This role does not have any direct reports.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience writing and deploying software in production environments.
• 7+ years of experience developing distributed backend systems and utilizing cloud services such as AWS.
• Extensive experience with both typed languages (e.g., Java, C++, C#) and untyped languages (e.g., Python, JavaScript).
• Proven ability to solve complex, ambiguous problems in unfamiliar domains.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience presenting to senior leadership, at or above the Vice President level.
• Deep understanding of computer science fundamentals such as algorithms and data structures.
• Strong independence and the ability to resolve issues with minimal involvement by your manager.
• Experience mentoring software engineers in team settings.
• A strong passion for aerospace and Blue Origin’s mission.
• 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.

Preferred Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience writing and deploying software in production environments.
• Experience in manufacturing, supply chain and/or aerospace.

 

Base Pay Range for:

WA applicants is $230,773.00 - $323,081.85

Other site ranges may differ

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.