Director of Program Production and Schedule - New Glenn

Posted:
6/2/2024, 5:00:00 PM

Location(s):
Viera, Florida, United States ⋅ Florida, United States

Experience Level(s):
Expert or higher ⋅ Senior

Field(s):
Product

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 diverse 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.

As part of a passionate and accomplished team, you will work at the intersection of program management, engineering, supply chain, and production organizations, improving team effectiveness and coordination, and ensuring that the right people are working together to solve problems and deliver results on time.  This position will support all aspects of program management to include cost, schedule, technical design and production process management as well as working with Blue Origin internal organizations and suppliers to deliver a qualified system. In this critical role, you assume ownership and accountability for the successful execution of high-priority integration projects within the New Glenn program.  As the primary point of contact, you must enjoy solving communication and organizational problems, earning trust and improving the overall performance of all teams involved. We are seeking a self-motivated and highly organized individual who can work with minimal direction and coordinate teams in the successful execution of engineering integration and program management activities.

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:

  • Lead program production schedule integration efforts to address the resolution of critical schedule constraints affecting the readiness of New Glenn for operational launch support. This role will interface closely with PPC, Production Operations, Procurement, and the engineering teams to identify opportunities to accelerate schedule performance.
  • Work closely with members of our production and supplier teams to identify design improvements which reduce cycle time for hardware production and recurring costs. 
  • Work with the systems integration teams to identify schedule duration and task reduction efforts which support a risk balanced acceleration of the program objectives.
  • Technical and Programmatic Leadership - Provide technical and programmatic leadership by supporting staffing plans, hiring and training plans for hardware quality initiatives.
  • Work with chief engineer and design teams to identify and resolve technical issues across the product lifecycle. 
  • Able to lead large and complex technical trades.
  • Develop project summary presentations for customer reviews, internal team meetings and support to Blue Origin communications team. 
  • Program Execution - Drive execution of a complex development program on budget and schedule while ensuring sustained production operations. 
  • Manage product development planning, testing and certification with focus on commercial and government customer satisfaction.
  • Establish and maintain regular business rhythm, consistent products, action tracking, and consolidate information for effective decision making. 
  • Maintain and routinely report performance to plan on schedule, resources, cost, and technical performance metrics. 
  • Develop efficient program management reporting for program and company level reviews.
  • Subcontract and Supplier Management - Liaison between various internal/external businesses partners and process owners.
  • Production process Management - Lead program production process management process, tracking and implementation of mitigation plans; improve connectivity with other programmatic measures including cost, schedule and technical performance.

Qualifications:

  • Experience managing a launch vehicle or equivalent development program.
  • Prior experience as technical or subsystem lead.
  • B.S. in an aerospace, mechanical, or systems engineering-related field, with 15+ years of complex product development experience. 
  • Program and technical leadership experience in an aerospace development environment with experience in full lifecycle development of aerospace systems, designing, deploying and supporting one or more complete flight systems.
  • Highly organized leader with excellent technical written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated track record of resourcefulness, strong business and technical judgement and bias for action from their previous assignments.
  • Successful experience in hiring and developing great people with diverse skill sets and demonstrated ability to motivate and organize effective teams and resolve conflicts.
  • Comfortable working in a fast paced, dynamic work environment and ability to travel in support of the program, customer and supplier activities.
  • 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.

Desired:

  • MBA, Program Management Professional (PMP) certification.  Experience with critical path scheduling, IMP/IMS, production process management, requirements management and Cost Account Management and developing resource loaded programs.
  • M.S. in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or systems engineering and experience with launch vehicle development, production and operations.
  • Experience with verification, integration, and test, of orbital launch vehicles or human rated spacecraft.
  • Strong business management acumen and experience managing large, geographically dispersed programs with large subcontractors

Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the requisition is closed.

Inclusivity 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 a diverse, inclusive, and 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.

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.

Paid Time Off:  Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.

Discretionary bonus: Bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results.

Eligibility for benefits varies by role type, please check with your recruiter for a comprehensive list of the benefits available for this role.

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, diverse, 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, in which all employees recognize and appreciate the diversity of individual team members. 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, gender, 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 “EEO Is the Law,” 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 [email protected].

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