Principal Engineer Quality

Northrop Grumman; Baltimore (MD); Hybrid; USD 99,000 - 148,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Paid holidays

PTO

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems seeks a Principal Engineer Quality to lead quality processes at our Baltimore, MD site. You will partner with engineering and manufacturing to implement robust inspection, testing, and QA strategies for complex systems.

The role requires a STEM degree with 5+ years of related experience, strong data analytics, and the ability to obtain a Secret Clearance. You will mentor peers and drive continuous improvement while ensuring compliance with applicable standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor or Master in STEM with 5+ years in quality/engineering roles.
• Experience with data analytics and statistical methods.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Clearance.
• US citizenship is required.

Responsibilities

• Develop, modify, apply, and maintain quality systems and protocols for materials processing.
• Partner with engineering and manufacturing to uphold quality standards.
• Design, analyze, and implement inspection and testing processes and equipment; perform QA tests and statistical analyses.
• Audit quality systems and drive corrective actions to meet reliability and documentation requirements.
• Identify and remove barriers to quality improvement through root-cause analysis and corrective-action planning.
• Review contracts/SOWs/drawings to apply standards (ISO 9000, AS9102, MIL, IPC).
• Interface with production roles and communicate with stakeholders.
• Define and control quality characteristics; develop control plans and work-instruction updates.
• Manage nonconformances; lead cross-functional containments to ensure product compliance.
• Create and interpret QC tools (flowcharts, Pareto, control charts) and FMEAs.

Skills

Quality engineering

Data analytics

Statistical analysis

Secret clearance

US citizenship

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Master's degree in STEM

Tools

Excel

Minitab

Power BI

SQL

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

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.

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is seeking a talented Principal Engineer Quality to join our team based out of Baltimore, MD.

What you'll get to do:

• Develop, modify, apply, and maintain quality evaluation, control systems, and protocols for processing materials into semi-finished or finished products.

• Partner with engineering and manufacturing to establish and uphold quality standards.

• Design, analyze, and implement inspection and testing processes and equipment; conduct quality assurance tests, perform statistical analyses to determine cost and responsibility for non-conforming parts.

• Audit quality systems, identify deficiencies, and drive corrective actions that meet reliability and documentation requirements; plan, conduct, report, and follow‑up on audits to ensure compliance and continual process improvement.

• Identify and remove barriers to quality improvement through root‑cause analysis and corrective‑action planning.

• Review contracts/SOWs/drawings to evaluate, interpret and apply company policies, ISO 9000, AS9102, MIL, IPC, and other standards applicable to designs and processes.

• Interface with production‑floor roles (inspection, assembly, operations) and communicate clearly with all stakeholders.

• Define, classify, and control quality characteristics for products, processes, and services; develop and validate control plans and work‑instruction updates.

• Manage nonconformances across the facility; lead cross‑functional containments to ensure product compliance.

• Create, use and interpret quality‑control tools (flowcharts, Pareto, control charts) and construct/interpret FMEAs.

• Interpret technical drawings and specifications, including GD&T symbols, to verify compliance with design requirements

• Apply benchmarking techniques to drive system‑wide quality improvements.

• Facilitate team collaboration with brainstorming, conflict‑resolution, and other facilitation tools.

• Specialize as needed in design, incoming material, production control, product evaluation, reliability, inventory control, or R&D as they apply to product or process quality.

The ideal candidate must be able to communicate written and verbally in a team environment with the ability to mentor other employees.

Basic Qualifications for the Principal Engineer Quality:

• Bachelor of Science Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field with a minimum of 5 years of engineering experience in Quality, Manufacturing, Process, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineering field of work performing technical job functions which can include investigating failures and identifying root causes; Master's Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field with a minimum of 3 years of engineering experience in Quality, Manufacturing, Process, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineering field of work performing technical job functions which can include investigating failures and identifying root causes.

• Experience with Data Analytics and Statistical Analysis methods and techniques.

• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Clearance.

• US Citizenship required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Microelectronics.

• Experience in at least one of the following standards (IPC, J-Std, MIL-STD)

• Experience with ISO9001 or AS9100 Quality Management System and AS9102 First Article Inspections (FAI).

• Green/Black Belt Certified in Lean Six-sigma.

• Certified in Lean and Six-Sigma methodologies.

• Certified auditor.

• Experience Facilitating RCCAs with technical groups

• SAP Experience.

• Active Secret Clearance.

• Experience leading cross-functional teams to resolve problems or issues.

• Experience using Microsoft Excel, Minitab or equivalent tools for statistical analysis.

• Experience with Artificial Intelligence, SQL, Power BI to aid in data analysis and data visualization.

• Experience with FMEAs, CARs, and audit processes.

• ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE).

• Certified IPC Specialist (CIS) – IPC‑A‑610.

• Certified IPC Specialist (CIS) – IPC/WHMA‑A‑620.

#MPR

Primary Level Salary Range: $98,900.00 - $148,300.00

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.

Job Category: Engineering