Fuel Cell Development Engineer II - Lunar Permanence

$103,230 - $144,522/Yr

Blue Origin - Seattle, WA

Full-time - Mid Level

Seattle, WA

Transportation Equipment Manufacturing

About the position

The Fuel Cell Development Engineer II position at Blue Origin focuses on the development of subcomponents within a fuel cell stack assembly, specifically for the Lunar Permanence business unit. This role is crucial for advancing Blue Origin's mission of sustainable infrastructure for transporting crew and cargo to the lunar surface. The engineer will apply their technical expertise and leadership skills to ensure safe human spaceflight, contributing to the company's vision of millions of people living and working in space.

Responsibilities

• Determine and specify properties of MEA materials including seals, electrodes, and other membranes.
• Communicate technical requirements or specifications to suppliers.
• Collaboratively author test plans with test, design, and analysis engineers.
• Perform experiments, quality control, and process development related to cell assembly and cell testing.
• Support test execution in a laboratory environment.
• Post-process, organize, and analyze test data to present results to the broader team.
• Document nonconformances and perform root cause analyses.
• Help with manual tasks around the lab such as cleaning the cell parts, organizing lab benches and supplies, and general equipment maintenance.

Requirements

• Master's degree in Electrochemistry, Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical, Mechanical Engineering, or other related STEM field.
• Excellent fundamental engineering knowledge of electrochemistry, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer, and materials.
• Experience in acquiring, processing, and analyzing experimental data of an electrochemical cell.
• Proven ability to write and execute test plans for electrochemical model correlation.
• Experience fabricating MEAs for low temperature fuel cells in a laboratory environment.
• Comfortable working with hazardous materials and chemicals in a lab.
• High attention to detail.
• Strong safety mindset and experience.
• Demonstrated experience in transforming research efforts into successfully deployed applications.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic work environment while regularly providing imaginative and detailed technical solutions to complex problems.
• Excellent verbal, written, and graphical communication skills.
• Ability to earn trust, maintain positive and professional relationships, and contribute to a culture of inclusion.

Nice-to-haves

• 2+ years of low temperature fuel cell or electrolyzer MEA product development.
• Ph.D. degree in Electrochemistry, Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical or Mechanical Engineering, or other related STEM field.
• Demonstrated expertise in chemical or materials analysis and associated quality controls.
• Experience in development and simulation of electrochemical models at the appropriate scale.
• Catalyst synthesis experience.
• Electrode and cell making related experience is preferred.
• Familiarity with 5S methodology.
• Experience operating lab equipment such as electronic load banks, mass flow controllers, oscilloscopes, mass spectrometers, vacuum chambers, and full-service fuel cell test stations.
• Experience with interpreting and generating Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs).
• Experience working with relevant software (e.g., LabVIEW, Python, MATLAB/Simulink etc.).
• Experience working with CAD software (Creo, SolidWorks, etc.).
• Familiarity with the principles, concepts, and methods of systems engineering such as concept development, requirement definition, design solution definition, design reviews, implementation, integration, verification and validation, qualification, commissioning, and operations.

Benefits

• 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%
• 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 designed to reward individual contributions and allow employees to share in company results.