Principal Engineer Aircraft Support

Northrop Grumman; Fort Worth (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Northrop Grumman seeks an experienced F-35 Project Manager / Mod Integrator to lead the Mod Planning & Integration Team. You will blend aircraft engineering, depot-level modifications, and Agile leadership to deliver F-35 modifications and sustainment.

You will partner with Lockheed Martin, BAE, Depot Teams, and CFTs to ensure work is delivered safely, on time, and to high quality standards. This role suits someone who thrives in complex, structured environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s of Science (STEM) + 5 years aircraft maintenance or Depot Level Mod experience or Master’s degree + 3 years aircraft maintenance experience or Depot Level Mod experience
• Active Government Secret clearance
• F-35 or 5th generation aircraft maintenance experience
• USAF 7-Level or DoN CDI equivalent

Responsibilities

• Plan, coordinate, and perform F-35 Mod Execution assignments involving aircraft, engine, system, and component modifications.
• Develop and evaluate specifications, design changes, and reparability assessments.
• Investigate operational issues and recommend solutions aligned with government and company safety/performance standards.
• Analyze operating data to identify root causes of wear, malfunctions, or premature removals.
• Review technical documentation including procedures, reports, drawings, manuals, and publications.
• Own and maintain executing aircraft modification schedules.

Skills

Secret clearance

F-35 maintenance exp

Agile / Scrum

PMP certification

Team leadership

Govt/regulatory knowledge

Tableau / sustainment tools

Education

Bachelor’s of Science (STEM) + 5 years aircraft maintenance or Depot Level Mod experience

Tools

PDM

JDL

ALIS

ServiceFlo

Tableau

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: 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.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced F-35 Project Manager / Mod Integrator to join our F-35 Mod Planning & Integration Team. This role blends aircraft engineering, F-35 Depot Level modification management, and Agile/Scrum leadership to drive successful execution of F-35 modification, sustainment, and depot-level activities.

You will serve as the primary focal point for sustainment and F-35 mod execution efforts, partnering closely with Lockheed Martin, BAE, Depot Teams, and Contract Field Teams (CFTs) to ensure modification work is delivered predictably, safely, and to the highest standard of quality.

This position is ideal for someone who thrives in complex environments, brings structure to ambiguity, and enjoys helping technical teams operate at their best.

Key Responsibilities

F-35 Mod Planning & Integration/Execution

• Plan, coordinate, and perform F-35 Mod Execution assignments involving aircraft, engine, system, and component modifications.
• Develop and evaluate specifications, design changes, and reparability assessments.
• Investigate operational issues and recommend solutions aligned with government and company safety/performance standards.
• Analyze operating data to identify root causes of wear, malfunctions, or premature removals.
• Review technical documentation including procedures, reports, drawings, manuals, and publications.
• Own and maintain executing aircraft modification schedules.
• Coordinate closely with the F-35 Depot Flow Plan scheduling team, Modifications Manager, Project Managers (PMs), F-35 Mod Agile Cell, CFT Team Leads, and Mod Management Leadership.
• Serve as the primary mod execution focal point for all mod-team efforts.
• Identify and mitigate constraints and risks affecting critical path milestones.
• Develop, track, and report aircraft status for all contracted modification work.
• Coordinates inter-departmental activities across QA, sustainment, engineering, required mod kits/tooling, and logistics.

Agile / Project Management

• Own end-to-end project planning includes mod scope, F-35 mod schedules, resource allocation, and risk tracking.
• Promote Agile/Scrum principles, self-organization, and continuous improvement.
• Identify and remove barriers affecting CFT/Depot velocity or delivery timelines.
• Maintain and refine product backlogs with Change Request (CR) owners and cross-functional partners.
• Track and report Agile metrics (velocity, burndown/burnup, cycle time, throughput).
• Manage project communications for technical and executive audiences.
• Lead cross-team dependency management for multi-team or multi-quarter initiatives.
• Conduct post-incident and post-project retrospectives and produce lessons-learned documentation.

Travel: Occasional support to MCAS Beaufort, MCAS Cherry Point/FRC-E, or FRC-SE, MCAS Miramar & NAS Lemoore

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s of Science (STEM) + 5 years aircraft maintenance or Depot Level Mod experience or Master’s degree + 3 years aircraft maintenance experience or Depot Level Mod experience
• Active Government Secret clearance
• F-35 or 5th generation aircraft maintenance experience
• Willingness to support other CFT/Depot locations as needed
• Must be able to successfully complete and pass all required F-35 training courses for employment
• USAF 7-Level or DoN CDI equivalent

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP certification
• Experience scaling Agile across multiple teams
• Experience managing programs with regulatory, security, or compliance dependencies
• Experience leading distributed or hybrid teams
• Background in change management or organizational transformation
• F-35 or 5th- generation aircraft MRO&U experience
• 5+ years leading multi-system maintenance teams
• Proficiency with TCTDs, engineering drawings, and manufacturing/material process specifications
• Experience with F-35 sustainment tools (PDM, JDL, ALIS, ServiceFlo, Tableau)
• Knowledge of change/configuration management and retrofit change boards
• Experience with governance related to aircraft scheduling, records management, configuration control, MIS, tool/FOD, E-Time, training, safety, security, hazardous waste, or supply chain management

Primary Level Salary Range: $89,900.00 - $134,900.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

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.