Director Of GS1 Refurbishment Operations

Gs1 Refurbishment Operations Director

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.

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.

We are seeking an experienced GS1 Refurbishment Operations Director to lead safe, efficient refurbishment operations at LC-36. You will own end-to-end GS1 refurbishment execution—setting standards, building high-performing teams, and driving continuous improvement in safety, reliability, and efficiency. You will lead multidisciplinary technician and engineering teams and serve as a key interface to program leadership and executive stakeholders. This is a hands-on position that requires the ability to communicate the vision, strategy and tactical application of cost-effective strategies and key deliverables.

This role directly impacts the history of space exploration and will require dedication, high judgment, and meticulous attention to safe, repeatable human and payload spaceflight operations.

Position Details:

Shift: A | Mon–Fri (7:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m)

Location: Space Coast, FL

Relocation: Available

Key Responsibilities:

• Champion safety always and first-time quality across all functions while growing and developing your team at all levels
• Oversee integrated planning and scheduling across multiple vehicles in various levels of refurbishment; resolve conflicts and drive decisions that balance safety, schedule, and cost.
• Define and maintain the GS1 Refurbishment team operating model, including org structure, staffing, interfaces, and standards.
• Build, lead, and develop a multi-level team (managers, shift leads, engineers, technicians) including workforce planning, hiring, performance management, and succession planning.
• Set and enforce standards for operations products (concepts of operations, procedures, checklists, timelines, mission rules), maintaining configuration control and alignment with engineering, safety, and regulatory requirements.
• Serve as senior operations authority in readiness reviews and go/no-go forums, clearly communicating risks, mitigations, and readiness to leadership and customers.
• Partner with engineering, supply chain, and operations to solve complex integration challenges
• Drive operational excellence and Lean improvements to increase throughput, reduce turnaround time and rework, and improve reliability while maintaining safety and quality.
• Establish, track, and act on key performance indicators (KPIs) (e.g., schedule adherence, anomaly rates, safety performance, asset utilization) to guide priorities and investments.
• Ensure robust hazard identification and mitigation by partnering with Safety and Engineering on system and process hazard analyses, driving closure of corrective and preventive actions.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders—including programs, mission management, range authorities, and customers—to align concepts of operations, schedules, and risk posture.

Team Focus & Domain:

The Launch Operations organization is responsible for end-to-end execution of vehicle and payload operations—from arrival of flight hardware through integration, test, launch/flight, recovery, and post-flight processing.

As for GS1 Refurbishment Operations, you will own all aspects of GS1 refurbishment operations from receipt of the booster to handoff for final integration and launch. This includes:

• Driving operational readiness for each refurbishment campaign which includes the preparation of all work instructions, parts and personnel
• Manage the team(s) that perform vehicle inspections, testing, checkouts, integration and closeouts.
• Managing day to day operational tempo on the shop floor to insure that shift, daily and weekly goals are hit to deliver a flight worthy booster
• Drive initiatives and cycle time reductions to enable a high launch rate
• Assess ground support equipment (GSE) as it pertains to nominal refurb operations and rate increases to make sure that the team is always ready.
• Help deconflict operational and schedule conflicts using the proper escalation paths to minimize impacts to launch schedule
• Problem solve at the tactical and strategic levels to insure that the team continues to deliver quality hardware, on time

You will also influence vehicle and ground system design for operability and maintainability, ensuring new systems and upgrades are conceived, designed, and validated with operations in mind.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physical sciences, operations, or related technical field; or equivalent hands-on experience in complex aerospace or industrial operations.
• 7+ years of people leadership experience, including leading leaders and multidisciplinary operations teams (e.g., mission control, launch/test, payload processing, or similar).
• Direct experience planning and executing complex operations involving hazardous systems (e.g., cryogenic, pneumatic, hydraulic, high voltage, high pressure, ordnance, propellants, or other hazardous materials).
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives that improved operational performance (e.g., cycle time, throughput, reliability, cost) while maintaining or improving safety and quality.
• Experience establishing and managing operations schedules and integrated resource plans using tools such as Microsoft Project, Primavera, or equivalent.
• Proven ability to make sound, time-critical decisions under pressure during real-time operations, with clear communication of intent and rationale.
• Experience defining and using metrics and KPIs for operations performance management and continuous improvement.
• Track record of effective collaboration with engineering, safety, program management, facilities, supply chain, and external partners.
• Proficiency with standard office and operations software and ability to quickly learn new planning, data, and analytics tools.
• Willing and able to support non-standard hours (nights, weekends, holidays, on-call), work in field/industrial environments (outdoors, PPE, ladders, hazardous or restricted areas), and travel to other sites and launch/test locations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 15+ years of relevant aerospace or space launch experience with complex engineering systems (e.g., launch vehicles, spacecraft, aircraft, propulsion/test facilities), including substantial mission and/or flight operations experience, especially sea-based rocket recovery.
• Direct leadership of launch pad or test stand operations, payload processing/encapsulation, mission/control center or flight test operations, and/or launch site/complex-wide coordination.
• Hands-on or deep working expertise in at least one relevant technical area, such as Aircraft MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul), launch vehicle or payload integration and checkout; ground fluid systems (cryogenic, pneumatic, hydraulic); avionics/instrumentation/electrical checkout; ordnance/explosives; or propellant/hazardous material processing.
• Working knowledge of safety and regulatory frameworks, such as range safety requirements, OSHA/NFPA standards, explosives and hazardous materials regulations, and environmental/transportation regulations (e.g., 49 CFR, 40 CFR).
• Experience with system safety and process hazard analyses (e.g., FMEA, HAZOP, fault tree analysis) and implementing mitigations through procedures, training, and design changes.
• Demonstrated application of Lean and continuous improvement principles in operations, including tools such as value stream mapping, standard work, 5S, and visual management.
• Experience deploying strategy and objectives through structured frameworks (e.g., Hoshin, OKRs, Balanced Scorecard) in an operations organization.
• Experience using ERP/MRP and/or maintenance management systems to drive planning, asset readiness, and performance management.

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