Chief Engineer - ML, Physical AI, & Autonomy

Chief Engineer - ML, Physical AI, & Autonomy

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 Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering (ACE), supporting Blue Origin's mission of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. The team fosters innovation and drives engineering workflows of the future, shared solutions and standards, simplicity and lower costs, and manufacturable design.

Blue Origin is building a world-class Machine Learning, Physical AI, and autonomy organization to power our next generation of space vehicles, lunar systems, and robotic platforms. Our vision of millions of people living and working in space will require advanced robotics and Physical AI of all kinds. To this end we are seeking a senior ML / Autonomy / Physical AI technical leader to anchor this capability — architecting and training the models that will enable autonomous operations on the lunar surface and across our space systems. We look to fly these capabilities into space and to the lunar surface on upcoming missions.

This is a Technical leader role for our ML, autonomy, and Physical AI capability, with the mandate to lead a focused team of 6-8 engineers. You will define the Digital Twin simulation and training pipeline, train and architect models, deploy them onto our platforms and infrastructure, and shape Blue Origin's strategy in this area. You will engage with peers in academia, industry, and government. You will report into senior leadership and have direct visibility with Executive leadership.

Key Responsibilities:

• Model Architecture & Training: Lead design and training of ML models for autonomy, perception, decision-making, and control in space applications
• Digital Twin & Simulation: Define the simulation and training pipeline needed for the different lunar surface and in-space applications
• Platform Integration: Operationalize models — deploy, run, and integrate into Blue Origin systems and infrastructure
• Team Building: Recruit, build, and lead a focused team of 6-8 ML/autonomy engineers
• Technical Strategy: Define autonomy reference architectures spanning lunar surface operations, in-space servicing, autonomous landing, and orbital robotics
• Cross-Functional Integration: Partner with GN&C, avionics, software, and systems engineering to translate research advances into deployable autonomy
• Assured Autonomy: Champion V&V, runtime assurance, uncertainty quantification, and safety cases for high-consequence space systems
• External Engagement: Represent Blue Origin with customers, partners, and academia
• Executive Visibility: Brief Executive leadership on autonomy capability and roadmap

Minimum Qualifications:

• M.S. in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Applied Math, or related technical field
• 12+ years (Level 7) / 10+ years (Level 6) of progressive experience developing autonomy, robotics, or ML systems for real-world deployment
• Industry leader in developing AI/ML models and training techniques for physical AI
• Demonstrated technical leadership of complex multi-disciplinary efforts
• Deep expertise in two or more of the following:
• Model architectures and training techniques for Physical AI systems
• Computer vision and perception (detection/segmentation, SLAM, visual-inertial odometry, sensor fusion)
• Robotic manipulation, grasping, and contact-rich tasks
• Modern ML stack (PyTorch / JAX / TensorFlow), training pipelines, and model deployment
• Decision-making under uncertainty (RL, MPC, MDP/POMDP, hybrid planning)
• GN&C-integrated autonomy (rendezvous & proximity operations, hazard detection & avoidance, terrain-relative navigation, powered descent guidance)
• Multi-agent / swarm systems and distributed autonomy
• Production-quality coding skills in Python and C/C++
• Experience taking concepts from research through integrated demonstration
• Excellent technical communication; able to brief executives, customers, and engineers

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in a relevant technical field
• Prior automotive / AV autonomy, aerospace, defense, or safety-critical systems experience
• Experience with foundation models / Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models for robotics
• Familiarity with V&V for ML/AI in high-consequence applications (formal methods, runtime monitors, uncertainty quantification, SOTIF/ISO 21448)
• Experience with simulation frameworks: Isaac Sim, Gazebo / Ignition, MuJoCo, MATLAB/Simulink, custom physics engines
• Experience with ROS / ROS2, DDS, or analogous middleware
• Experience deploying ML on edge / embedded / radiation-tolerant compute (Orin, Versal, rad-hard SoCs, FPGAs)
• Familiarity with lunar surface operations, cislunar logistics, or in-space servicing/assembly/manufacturing
• Active U.S. Secret or Top Secret/SCI clearance
• Publications in NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ICRA, IROS, RSS, CoRL, AIAA SciTech / GNC, or equivalent
• Experience with proposal writing for NASA / DARPA / AFRL / SDA programs

Compensation Range for:

WA applicants is $253,878.00 - $355,429.20

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 (CDL drivers only), 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.