Materials & Process Engineering - Rocket Engine Tribology - (All Levels)

Open to various level: Junior to Senior

Location: Kent, WA

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 dedicated commitment and detailed attention towards safe and repeatable spaceflight.  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 small, passionate and accomplished team of experts, you will be responsible for Tribology of mechanisms and interfaces of various spaceflight systems, with a focus on Engines. You will share in the team’s impact on all aspects of material system selection, design for producibility, and rugged and robust design.

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:

• Working one-on-one with designers, provide tribology support relating to rocket engine mechanisms (seals, bearings, and sliding interfaces), and collaborate with other stakeholders to select material systems that meet design requirements.

• Assist component designers in developing wear interfaces with suitable materials, finishes and geometries capable of robust operation in launch and in-space environments.

• Identify and mitigate lubrication and wear risks in high performance vehicle mechanisms

• Recommend and execute coupon testing to screen materials for wear life and damage modalities.

• Interface with and audit suppliers to ensure all processes, coatings and finishes meet design and qualification requirements

• Lead internal and external material test campaigns.

• Identify technology gaps in rocket engine tribological interfaces and execute development efforts to improve technology readiness for future designs.

Qualifications:

• Minimum B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Material Science, Chemistry or related field

• Relevant tribology experience (level commensurate on experience)

• Hands-on experience developing test plans, measuring and characterizing friction and wear of tribological systems containing metallic and non-metallic elements.

• Strong fundamental understanding of the behavior of material interfaces in relative motion, particularly with respect to operation in high vibration environments.

• Specialized experienced in at least one of the following:

  • Vacuum-compatible dry film lubricants and deposition processes

  • Tribology of metal-on-metal interfaces exposed to wide temperature ranges from cryogenic fluids to hot combustion products.

  • Vacuum- and propellant-compatible greases

  • Experience with surface engineering, residual stress treatments, superfinishing, coatings and other surface modifications.

• Experience with characterization of wear surfaces and materials using methods such as: optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence, fractography, debris sampling and quantification, wear particle analysis, etc.

• Strong written and personal computer skills.

• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills.

• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion.

• 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:

• Masters or PhD in engineering, material science or related field

• Experience in methods of contact analysis and wear modeling

• Demonstrated experience supporting flight production programs

• Proven experience managing technology development projects, measuring technical progress, resources, and managing budgets.

• Demonstrated experience authoring specifications and process control documents

• Experience with statistical analysis methods and related tools

• Experience running ambient, elevated temperature, and cryogenic thermomechanical testing

• Familiarity with standard methods for testing mechanical properties (including fatigue, fracture, creep, stress rupture) of metallic and soft materials

• Experience with failure analysis and forensic investigations

• Experience with supply chain management and supplier audits

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.

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. For more information on “EEO Is the Law,” please see here and here.

Blue Origin will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the Washington Fair Chance Act, Los Angeles Fair Chance in Hiring Ordinance, and other applicable laws.

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.

Benefits

Employee Benefits include: Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, short and long-term disability and 401(k) with up to 5% company match.

Paid Time Off:  Provides up to 4 weeks per year, in addition to 14 holidays