Communications Manager

Jobtailor; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Northrop Grumman is seeking a senior communications professional to lead strategic programs across Aeronautics Systems and Air Dominance. The role involves guiding a communicators team, shaping the company narrative, and aligning with senior leadership on priorities.

The ideal candidate will excel at data-driven storytelling, cross-team collaboration, and delivering external-facing campaigns in a national security context while maintaining compliance with DoD requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 7+ years of experience in communications, public relations, and/or marketing, or Master’s with 5+ years of experience
• Experience collaborating across matrixed teams to execute communications campaigns or projects
• Demonstrated knowledge as a program communicator, deploying external-facing strategic campaigns and measuring impact
• Comfort with data; ability to tell a persuasive story from disparate sources
• Strong presentation skills; comfortable presenting to senior leadership
• Experience in national security environments and restricted programs
• Ability to obtain and maintain an active US Govt Secret Clearance and special program access
• DoD ecosystem familiarity (preferred)
• Strategic thinking, planning and decision-making (preferred)
• Excellent writing, editing and project management skills (preferred)
• Media relations and strategy development experience (preferred)
• Ability to collaborate across matrixed organization (preferred)
• Ability to drive change diplomatically (preferred)

Responsibilities

• Support communications strategy development and implementation within Aeronautics Systems, Air Dominance Programs
• Guide a team of communicators developing and implementing strategic communications plans
• Create, deploy, measure and optimize communications across paid, owned and earned channels
• Lead direct-report and matrixed contributors supporting external and internal communications
• Shape the Northrop Grumman story and deliver it to audiences to support objectives and brand
• Partner with Air Dominance Communications director on workflow management, resource forecasting and project tracking
• Collaborate with Corporate and Sector Communications directors on strategies and tactics
• Develop communications strategies promoting program and enterprise objectives
• Identify opportunities, make recommendations and oversee tactical execution
• Partner with customer counterparts to drive consensus in planning and execution

Skills

Strategic Communications

Media Relations

Project Management

Data Analysis

Stakeholder Management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Communications/PR/Marketing

Master’s degree in Communications or related field

U.S. Government Secret Clearance

Job description

• Support communications strategy development and implementation within Aeronautics Systems, Air Dominance Programs


• Guide a team of communicators developing and implementing strategic communications plans


• Create, deploy, measure and optimize communications across paid, owned and earned channels


• Lead direct-report and matrixed individual contributors supporting external and internal communications


• Shape the Northrop Grumman story and deliver it to appropriate audiences to support business objectives and brand


• Partner with the Air Dominance Communications director on workflow management, resource forecasting, project assignment and completion tracking


• Collaborate with Corporate and Sector Communications directors on communications strategies and tactics


• Develop communications strategies promoting program and enterprise objectives


• Identify opportunities, make recommendations and oversee tactical execution


• Partner with customer counterparts to drive consensus in planning and execution

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and at least 7 years of experience in communications, public relations, and/or marketing, or master’s degree and 5 years of experience in communications, public relations, and/or marketing


• Experience collaborating across matrixed teams to execute communications campaigns or projects


• Demonstrated knowledge and experience as a program communicator, developing and deploying external-facing strategic communications campaigns and measuring business impact


• Comfort with data; ability to shape and tell a persuasive story from disparate data sources


• Strong presentation skills and comfort with presenting to audiences at all levels, including senior leadership


• Experience working in a national security environment and restricted programs


• Ability to obtain and maintain an active US Govt Secret Clearance and special program access within a reasonable period


• Experience with Air Force Public Affairs, or similar DoD function (preferred)


• Familiarity with strategic messaging, stakeholder management and approval processes within DoD ecosystem (preferred)


• Strategic thinking, planning and decision-making (preferred)


• Excellent writing, editing and project management skills (preferred)


• Demonstrated experience in media relations and media strategy development (preferred)


• Ability to effectively collaborate with colleagues across the matrixed organization (preferred)


• Ability to effectively and diplomatically drive change (preferred)


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

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in developing and implementing strategic communications plans, with a strong focus on collaboration across matrixed teams and the ability to analyze data to drive impactful messaging. Proven skills in media relations, stakeholder management, and project management within a national security environment.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Strategic Communications Development


• Media Relations


• Project Management


• Data Analysis and Storytelling


• Collaboration Across Matrixed Teams

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Communications Strategy


• Public Relations


• Marketing


• Campaign Development


• Writing and Editing


• Presentation Skills


• Stakeholder Management


• Tactical Execution


• Program Communication


• Measurement of Business Impact

Soft Skills

• Strategic Thinking


• Decision-Making


• Change Management


• Collaboration


• Persuasive Communication

Certifications & Qualifications

• U.S. Government Secret Clearance

Industry Keywords

• National Security


• Air Force Public Affairs


• DoD Ecosystem


• Restricted Programs


• Communications Campaigns