2026 Associate Design Engineer

0909 SP - Orbital Space Systems; United States; On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental & Vision

401k

Educational Assistance

Life Insurance

Flexible Schedules

Employee Discounts

Job summary

Northrop Grumman is seeking an Associate Design Engineer for its Space sector in Dulles, VA. You will design major components and develop layouts while coordinating with cross-functional teams to meet contractual specifications.

The role requires either 4+ years of relevant experience or a Bachelor’s degree, and the ability to obtain US government security clearance. Strong communication skills and MS Office proficiency are preferred.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of relevant design experience or a Bachelor’s degree.
• Ability to obtain U.S. government security clearance (U.S. citizenship required).
• Ability to obtain Special Access Program (SAP) within a reasonable time.

Responsibilities

• Designs major components or portions of a functional system to develop/improve products and facilitate manufacturing operations.
• Develops basic data, preliminary layouts, sketches, and notes to present design proposals.
• Investigates design factors such as manufacturability, materials, interchangeability, strength/weight, and cost.
• Coordinates with other organizations affected by design development.
• Creates layouts of complex assemblies and details parts of devices, mechanisms, and structures.
• Checks layouts and drawings for clarity, standards conformity, and calculation accuracy.
• Identifies design errors and recommends revisions to responsible engineers.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No CLEARANCE TYPE: Top Secret TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history. Northrop Grumman is a space pioneer, supporting government, civil and commercial customers in solving their biggest challenges. Our forward-leaning, innovative spirit is backed by a legacy of expertise that began at the dawn of the space age. Our mission experience in space runs deep, we know our customers well, and our capabilities are unmatched. This is what allows us to provide reliable, agile and affordable space solutions to best serve our customers. From defending freedom to advancing human discovery, we are defining what is possible in space every day. Entry Level opportunities at Northrop Grumman are unique. Are you interested in boosting your knowledge through experience and exposure, while supporting a mission that seeks to protect our nation and its allies? If so, then Northrop Grumman is the place you! Our professionals live and breathe different perspectives; we are curious about the world, accepting each other, and aware that the more ideas, backgrounds, opinions and experiences we bring to our work, the stronger that work will be. Just as you would invest your time and hard work into our company, we focus on investing back into you through enriching professional experiences and high-quality learning and development opportunities. We want you to bring your whole self to work, and for you to have meaningful connections with your coworkers, customers and communities, while providing the best products, systems and technologies to protect our world.

Position Overview

Northrop Grumman is seeking an Associate Design Engineer. This position will be located at our Space sector in Dulles, VA.

In this role, the selected candidate will be expected to:

• Designs major components or major portions of a functional system to develop or improve products and facilitate manufacturing operations.
• Develops basic data and makes preliminary layouts, sketches, and notes necessary to present design proposal.
• Investigates pertinent design factors such as ease of manufacture, availability of materials and equipment, interchangeability, replace ability, strength-weight efficiency, and contractual specification requirements and cost.
• Coordinates with other organizations affected by design development.
• Makes layouts of complex assemblies and details parts of devices, mechanisms, and structures.
• Checks completed layouts and drawings for clarity, completeness, conformity to standards, procedures, specifications, and accuracy of calculations and dimensioning.
• Identifies design errors, omissions, and other deficiencies, and recommends revisions and/or improvements in design layout to responsible engineers or designers.

Basic Qualifications

• 4+ years of relevant experience in lieu of Bachelor’s degree OR a Bachelor's degree.
• Be able to obtain a U.S. Government security clearance (U.S. citizenship is a pre-requisite).
• The ability to obtain Special Access Program within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company to meet its business needs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced user in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Curious about all the exciting developments with the Northrop Grumman Space Sector? Click the link below: https://www.northropgrumman.com/space.

Working at Northrop Grumman is more than just a paycheck. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive at work and in life. For more information on our Total Rewards package, please visit our Total Rewards site: Northrop Grumman Total Rewards

As a full-time employee of Northrop Grumman, you are eligible for:

• Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
• 401k
• Educational Assistance
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions
• Paid Time Off
• Health & Wellness Resources
• Employee Discounts
• Flexible Schedules: for example, the ability to work a 9/80 work schedule, which allows an employee to work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday and take every other Friday off of work.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO.

U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.

Existing Applicants: Need to update your contact information or email address? Once logged in, click on Candidate Home in the upper right corner and scroll to the bottom of that screen to see buttons for: Update Contact information to update your legal name, address, and phone number Edit Account Settings to edit your email address

We are a pioneering company. With careers across all areas: air, cyber, land, sea and space – our 90,000 employees work as one to defend and define the future. Northrop Grumman careers and internships are as varied as your interests, with a lifetime of potential that will give you every opportunity to do your best work. Working together with people from many backgrounds, personal passions and disciplines, we share a drive to push the boundaries of science, technology and engineering to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide.