Sr. Design Engineer, Structural/Mechanical GSE

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 Blue Origin Engines business unit, where our focus is the design, development, manufacturing, and testing of engines and propulsion systems. Built for multiple uses, our family of engines is powering the next generation of rockets for commercial, civil, national security, and human spaceflight.

As the Senior Structural Design Engineer on a small structural design team within Engines Advanced Programs, you will serve as the team's technical design lead — owning the most complex hardware and providing the senior technical voice on structural design, analysis, and trade decisions. You will design, analyze, build, and commission critical operational equipment, working directly with end users, technicians, and vendors.

Our team is the backbone of operational infrastructure for our program. We design essential support hardware including test stands, towers, lift fixtures, pipe supports, specialized assembly tooling, transporters, maintenance platforms, and dolly systems. We routinely design and analyze steel and aluminum structures, and we deliver mechanical systems that may include hydraulic, pneumatic, or other energized subsystems.

You will work the entire design cycle with no oversight — concept of operations through field commissioning. The hardware presents real structural challenges: non-obvious load paths, tight integration interfaces, code-driven sizing (ASME B30.20/BTH-1, AISC-360, ASCE-7, Aluminum Design Manual), welded steel and aluminum structures, and energized subsystems where structural integrity is safety-critical. The role demands advanced FEA and hand analysis, technical judgment to trade architecture and analysis approach, and the ability to defend designs in cross-discipline reviews. You will lead structural anomaly investigations and root cause analysis when hardware does not behave as predicted, and serve as the technical resource other engineers consult on hard structural problems.

We are looking for a senior structural engineer with deep design and analysis experience, strong working knowledge of structural codes for industrial and lifting equipment, and a track record of complex hardware delivered to the field. The role requires advanced technical judgment, ownership of the team's hardest problems, and willingness to put boots on the ground for fabrication support and field commissioning.

Special Mentions

• Relocation provided
• Travel expected up to 20% of the time
• Interviews will include a technical assessment

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Own end-to-end design of the most complex assigned hardware — clean-sheet structures, complex assemblies, and structurally critical equipment — from project objectives and concept of operations through operational handover
• Develop system technical needs and concepts of operations from project objectives and stakeholder input
• Create detailed designs and bills of materials through 3D CAD models and 2D drawing packages to industry standards (ASME Y14.5)
• Perform robust structural and mechanical analysis using FEA software and hand calculations; author detailed analysis reports describing load cases, factors of safety, and margins
• Define hardware test scope, requirements, and configurations, including non-destructive evaluation, proof testing, operational testing, material testing, and weld inspection
• Lead system safety analyses such as Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP), Job Hazard Analysis (JHA), and Fault Tolerance Analysis (FTA)
• Develop activation and commissioning plans, and lead installation and commissioning activities in the field
• Maintain design authority throughout fabrication, working closely with vendors and manufacturing teams; resolve technical issues during field integration
• Oversee procurement and build of hardware (internal and external) to ensure it meets technical and operational requirements
• Serve as the team's technical resource for complex structural problems, trade studies, and architectural decisions
• Lead structural anomaly investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective action development
• Provide technical review of designs, analyses, and drawing packages produced by other engineers
• Develop analysis methods, design tooli