Senior Director, Operational Excellence

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 Blue Origin Operations, which is comprised of Integrated Supply Chain, Test Operations, Safety, Quality, and Mission Assurance. This includes Manufacturing and Supply Chain support across all Blue Origin facilities.

The Senior Director of Operational Excellence is a new role to lead large-scale process improvement initiatives across businesses, programs, and operations at Blue Origin. This role is responsible for driving a culture of continuous improvement, standardization, and operational rigor, ensuring best-in-class performance through data-driven decision-making and scalable mechanisms.

This role will play a critical part in shaping and scaling a culture of Operational Excellence, enabling the organization to deliver consistent, high-quality outcomes while continuously improving speed, efficiency, and reliability across the network.

Key Responsibilities
This role will be responsible for driving Operational Excellence (OE), standard work, kaizen, defect reduction, Total Quality Management (TQM), and continuous improvement initiatives enterprise wide.

This leader will:

• Build and lead a high-performing Operational Excellence team, setting vision, priorities, and measurable outcomes
• Develop and implement mechanisms to identify, prioritize, and execute process improvements across operations
• Identify benchmark and best practices, driving consistency and leveraging learnings across the network
• Establish, measure, audit, and publish ongoing performance data aligned to the Blue OE Playbook
• Create, teach, and embed a kaizen culture focused on rapid, iterative improvements
• Design and deploy scalable learning modules to drive OE adoption and capability-building across teams
• Partner cross-functionally with operations, engineering, quality, and leadership teams to align on priorities and drive impact
• Lead defect reduction initiatives through root cause analysis, corrective actions, and preventive measures
• Standardize workflows and ensure adherence to operational processes and quality standards
• Drive accountability through clear metrics, reporting mechanisms, and regular business reviews

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in Manufacturing, Operations, Production or related fields
• Aerospace industry experience with expertise in production and planning.
• Proven experience leading large-scale OE transformations or continuous improvement initiatives
• Deep expertise in Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, and Total Quality Management (TQM) methodologies
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead high-performing teams in complex, fast-paced environments
• Strong analytical skills with experience using data to drive decisions and measure impact
• Experience developing standard work, playbooks, and scalable process frameworks
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at all levels
• Track record of driving measurable improvements in efficiency, quality, and cost
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree or MBA
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or equivalent certification
• Experience operating in multi-site or network-wide environments
• Background in aerospace, manufacturing, logistics, or high-reliability industries
• Experience building training programs or learning systems for operational adoption

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’