Additive - Manufacturing Process Engineer III

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.

Operations Manufacturing Engineer

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 and collaboration. 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.

Additive Manufacturing produces metallic and polymer flight hardware for Blue's engine and launch vehicle programs, spanning laser powder bed fusion, polymer printing, and post-processing. You will own capacity planning, factory layout, and throughput modeling for that production system as it scales across sites.

The job is the production system, not part-level process ownership. You will own the capacity models and the floor layout that set how much the factory can produce and where the constraint sits, and your numbers feed staffing plans, capital requests, and what AM commits to its program customers, so they have to hold up with finance and with senior leadership.

AM builds its own tooling where it saves time, so you will have room to automate your own analysis and reporting and to build AI-assisted tools the team uses. You will report to the AM Director and work across the managers and engineers running printing, post-processing, applications engineering, and machine insourcing, plus facilities, maintenance, finance, and the program customers AM supports.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Own Capacity Planning and Modeling

· Build and maintain demand versus capacity models for the AM production system spanning labor, equipment, and floor space, and keep them current as demand shifts

· Identify the binding constraint and quantify what it costs, keeping asset limits and staffing limits separate

· Model machine hour availability and utilization, including setup, changeover, unload and reload labor, and planned and unplanned downtime

· Develop staffing and ramp models across shifts, and translate demand into the direct and indirect labor required to support it

· Run scenario and sensitivity analysis on rate changes, new part introductions, equipment additions, and shift structure changes

· Support the annual operating plan and capital planning cycle with the quantified capacity analysis behind equipment and headcount requests

· Provide the capacity picture that program commitments are built on, and flag when committed demand exceeds what the system can deliver

Own Factory Layout and Material Flow

· Design, model, and implement factory layouts for print bays, post-processing cells, inspection, and machining areas, optimizing for safety, ergonomics, and minimal material movement

· Own floor space planning, including space allocation by work center and the layout implications of adding equipment

· Define and improve the end to end flow of material and information through the AM value stream, including powder handling, part movement, and queue locations

· Plan equipment placement for new installs, including utilities, access, and the surrounding work area, coordinating with facilities, maintenance, and engineering

· Support new site and new area standups with layout, flow, and capacity models before the equipment lands

· Design work cells and material presentation for operations that are manual today, and evaluate where automation changes the layout

Model Throughput and Labor

· Build throughput and factory flow models, including discrete event simulation where the queuing behavior matters

· Conduct time studies and work sampling, and develop labor standards for recurring operations

· Perform cycle time, takt time, and line balancing analysis, and use it to set and validate rate assumptions

· Establish standard work for repeatable operations, and quantify the variation that standard work removes

· Apply theory of constraints and engineering economic analysis to prioritize where capacity investment returns the most

· Build make versus buy and insource versus outsource analysis when capacity decisions call for it

Drive Process Improvement

· Lead value stream mapping for current and future state operations, and identify the bottlenecks and lead time drivers in each

· Reduce cycle time, work in process, queue time, and non-value-added work across the AM value stream, and quantify the result

· Apply Lean methods including 5S, standard work, waste reduction, and flow improvement

· Build the business case for improvement and automation projects, including cost, throughput impact, alternatives, and payback

Build Reporting and AI Tools

· Build and maintain the metrics that show production system performance, including throughput, utilization, cycle time, queue time, and labor hours per unit

· Build dashboards AM leadership can read and decide from without a briefing

· Build AI-assisted tools and automated reports that replace recurring manual analysis, including scripts or agents that query production data systems and return a finished report

· Automate the reporting you would otherwise rebuild by hand every week or month, and own those tools once they are in use

· Apply AI-based and data tools to reduce the manual effort in modeling, analysis, and reporting

· Present capacity, layout, and improvement analysis to AM leadership, finance, and program customers, and bring a recommendation with it

Minimum Qualifications

· Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Operations Research, or a related engineering field, from an accredited university

· 5+ years of experience in an industrial, manufacturing, or process engineering role in a production environment

· Demonstrated experience building demand to capacity models across labor, equipment, and facility constraints, and turning them into defensible staffing or capital plans

· Demonstrated experience with factory layout design and material flow analysis

· Working knowledge of industrial engineering fundamentals, including time studies, work sampling, standard work, cycle time and takt analysis, line balancing, and throughput modeling

· Strong practical understanding of Lean manufacturing principles and experience implementing them, including value stream mapping

· Proficiency in process modeling and data analysis, including strong Excel ability, and a demonstrated ability to build and present data driven business cases

· Experience identifying a production constraint and quantifying the cost of relieving it

· Ability to work from production data, and to build the metrics when the data does not exist yet

· Knowledge of AI-based systems and demonstrated ability to apply them in your own work, including using them to automate analysis or reporting you would otherwise do by hand

· Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills, with the ability to make tradeoffs visible to stakeholders competing for the same capacity

· Ability to work onsite in Kent, Washington, and to spend time on the production floor

· Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of safety

· 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

· Experience with discrete event simulation software such as FlexSim, Simio, Arena, or Simul8

· Experience in a machine shop, fabrication, or post-processing environment

· Familiarity with metallic or polymer additive manufacturing, including laser powder bed fusion, build plate utilization, nesting, and the post-processing chain

· Experience modeling a production system where labor availability, not equipment, is the practical ceiling on utilization

· Experience supporting an annual operating plan or capital planning cycle

· Experience planning capacity and layout for a new site or a new production area before equipment installation

· Experience developing labor standards and forecasting direct and indirect labor across a production ramp

· Lean Six Sigma certification, Green Belt or above, including value stream mapping and kaizen facilitation

· Experience evaluating or implementing automation in manual production operations, including the layout and staffing implications

· Experience with a manufacturing execution system and an ERP system, including work order and routing structure

· Experience building AI-enabled tools, agents, or automated reporting that other people went on to rely on

· SQL or Python ability sufficient to query production data systems directly and build your own analysis and reporting

· Experience automating a recurring report or analysis end to end, including what it took to keep it working once others depended on it

· Use of 2D or 3D CAD for layout work, such as AutoCAD, Creo, or SolidWorks

· Aerospace or rocket engine production experience, or experience transitioning development work into production

· Advanced degree in Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, Operations Management, or an MBA

Base Pay Range for:

WA applicants is $121,023.00 - $169,432.20

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.

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’s Standard Background Check
• Required for Certain Job Profiles: Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) background check if at any time the role requires one to be on a military installation
• Required for Certain Job Profiles: Drivers who operate Commercial Motor Vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) or combination of power unit and trailer that meets or exceeds 10,001 lbs. and/or transports placardable amounts of hazardous materials by ground in any vehicle on a public road while in commerce, may be subject to additional Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations including: Driver Qualification Files, Medical Certification (obtained before onboarding), Road Test, Hours of Service, Drug and Alcohol Testing, vehicle inspection requirements, CDL requirements (if applicable) and hazardous materials transportation/shipping training.
• Required for certain Job Profiles: Ability to obtain and maintain Merchant Mariner Credential, which includes pre-employment and random drug testing as well as DOT physical

Benefits

• Benefits include: Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
• Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
• Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.
• Dependent on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on the company's intent to reward individual contributions and enable them to share in the company's results, or other factors at the company's sole discretion. Bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and subject to change and cancellation. Please check with your recruiter for more details.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Blue Origin is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is committed to attracting, retaining, and developing a highly qualified and dedicated work force. Blue Origin hires and promotes people on the basis of their qualifications, performance, and abilities. We support the establishment and maintenance of a workplace that fosters trust, equality, and teamwork. We provide all qualified applicants for employment and employees with equal opportunities for hire, promotion, and other terms and conditions of employment, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin/ethnicity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local law. Blue Origin will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the Washington Fair Chance Act, the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles Fair Chance in Hiring Ordinance, and other applicable laws. For more information on “Know Your Rights,” please see here.

Affirmative Action and Disability Accommodation

Applicants wishing to receive information on Blue Origin’s Affirmative Action Plans, or applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in the application and/or interview process, please contact us at EEOCompliance@blueorigin.com. Please note this is a publicly managed inbox. Please do not include any personal medical information in your request.