Director, New Shepard Launch Operations

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 the New Shepard program. New Shepard is a reusable suborbital rocket system designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary of space. Through operational reusability, New Shepard supports our mission of lowering the cost of access to space.

We are a diverse 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 towards safe and repeatable space flight. 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.  

As part of a hardworking team of passionate, diverse, and accomplished experts, you will lead all aspects of Launch Operations and Training. The Launch Operations team performs safe, reliable and efficient launch and recovery operations and owns development and management of Operations products. The Training Team develops, coordinates, and delivers training content to both the Launch Operations and Launch Vehicle Maintenance Teams, develops and runs training systems that includes training simulators and mockups, and executes the Launch Crew qualification and currency program. You will collaborate across teams to understand and overcome logistics, training, qualification, budget, and resource challenges to deliver mission ready personnel and products. Through continuous improvement efforts, we identify and implement projects that provide efficiency improvements and directly lower the cost to access space. The job may be based in Kent, WA, or in Van Horn, TX, with routine (25%- 50%) travel to the alternate location. Additional operations responsibilities may be assigned depending on individual experience and qualifications.

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

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Lead and mentor managers and employees to maintain and mature effective training and operations teams.
• Lead periodic reviews of team progress including tracking Technical Performance Metrics and other key performance indicators.
• Lead reporting of program execution including scope, budget, risks, schedule, resource allocation, critical path, waivers, and challenges.
• Implement methods to measure, analyze, and proactively improve launch operations, and training performance.
• Supervise and monitor launch crew readiness for flight.
• Establish, maintain, and monitor needed support from functional support organizations to ensure the success of launch operations and training.
• Administration of operations and training budgets to include tracking actual costs, performing variance analysis, and estimating future costs.
• Responsible for achieving per flight cost targets and annual fixed expense budget.
• Run launch range logistics such as aerial assets, including drones, and vehicle support of recovery operations.
• Inform development of, and then implement, the plan to transition the operations organization and its processes to increased New Shepard launch cadence.
• Oversee the office of the Flight Directors and launch weather personnel

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum of a B.S. degree in engineering or equivalent experience
• 15+ years’ experience in operations field with at least 5 years in a demanding operational environment
• Strong coordination and project management skills. Ability to follow, lead and prioritize multiple tasks and jobs.
• Experience in a variety of project and program management functions, to include technical, schedules, budget, and resources.
• Experience leading and supervising both large and small teams assigned to fast-paced and sophisticated projects.
• Leadership, management, and mentoring experience.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience with a variety of management and planning software tools.
• Ability to build strong working relationships up, down, and across the organization and Business Units.