Propulsion Engineer III – Auxiliary Systems Design

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 part of our hardworking team of engineers, you will design the mechanical auxiliary and driveline systems that connect our large-scale turbomachinery to the equipment it drives. You will own the design of shaft couplings, bearing integration, gear units, lubrication and seal support systems, and structural mounting — creating and releasing the drawings and models that turn architecture into hardware. This position is integral to the success of our missions and requires strong rotating-equipment mechanical-design fundamentals. 

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! 

Special Mentions 

• Relocation provided 

• Travel expected up to 20% of the time 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

• Own the mechanical design of the auxiliary and driveline systems supporting large-scale turbomachinery development and testing  

• Responsible for design and development of shaft couplings, bearing housings and integration, speed-reduction gear units, bearing fluid lubrication systems, seal support systems, mounting and structural support systems — from concept through hardware implementation and test. 

• Lead the driveline architecture trades: rigid versus flexible coupling, direct drive versus an intermediate / quill shaft with its own bearings versus a reduction gear unit; document the decisions and their rationale. 

• Create and release engineering drawings, 3D models, and specifications in CAD (NX or Creo) and the PLM system (Windchill), applying GD&T per ASME Y14.5. 

• Perform and direct tolerance stack-ups, fit / clearance definition, and alignment analysis for the rotating-equipment train. 

• Integrate the bearing system into the driveline design — housings, fits, instrumentation provisions, and assembly — in close collaboration with bearing subject-matter experts. 

• Serve as the prime mechanical-design interface to external vendors (coupling, bearing, gear-unit, and driven-equipment suppliers): own the interface control documents, evaluate proposals, and drive technical alignment. 

• Interface with the core turbomachinery team on rotordynamics and bearing loads so that coupling, bearing, and shaft-train requirements are correctly captured and met. 

• Contribute to detailed trade studies that result in selecting optimal mission-suitable subsystem hardware. 

• Support hardware build, assembly, acceptance testing, alignment, and anomaly investigation for auxiliary-systems components; provide engineering dispositions for non-conforming hardware. 

• Develop and maintain design requirements and documentation; contribute technical artifacts to subsystem and program gated reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR, TRR). 

Minimum Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field. 

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in the mechanical design of rotating equipment or drivetrain hardware (couplings, bearings, gear units, shaft systems, or comparable rotating-machinery mechanical systems). 

• Proficiency in 3D CAD (NX, Creo, or equivalent) and engineering drawing release. 

• Working knowledge of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T, ASME Y14.5) and tolerance stack-up analysis. 

• Demonstrated ownership of hardware through at least one complete design, build, and test cycle. 

• Experience working in cross-disciplinary engineering teams. 

• A track record of taking ownership, showing resilience in the face of challenges, and consistently delivering results. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• 7+ years of relevant industry experience. 

• Experience working in aerospace. 

• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline. 

• Experience designing high-speed shaft couplings (flexible disc / diaphragm, rigid, or intermediate / quill-shaft) for rotating-equipment trains. 

• Experience integrating journal and thrust bearings (tilting-pad and other fluid-film types) into rotating machinery. 

• Experience with speed-reduction gear units for high-speed rotating equipment (e.g., AGMA 6011 / API 613 class gear drives). 

• Experience with lubrication systems and seal support systems for rotating equipment. 

• Familiarity with applicable rotating-equipment industry standards (e.g., API 671 couplings, API 614 lubrication, API 670 / 684 machinery protection and rotordynamics). 

• Rotordynamics literacy (lateral and torsional critical speeds, shaft-train coupling) sufficient to define driveline requirements. 

• Experience with structural mounting / support design and field alignment of rotating-equipment trains. 

• Mechanical design experience with rotating equipment in any of: power generation, oil & gas, or aerospace turbomachinery. 

• Demonstrated use of — or genuine enthusiasm to adopt — modern AI-assisted engineering tools (e.g., LLM-based design / analysis / scripting assistants integrated into the daily development environment). 

• Experience with LabVIEW and MATLAB.