Sr Principal HR Project Manager

Northrop Grumman Corp.; Falls Church (VA); On-site; USD 118,000 - 176,000; Full time

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Corp. in Falls Church, VA is seeking a Senior Principal HR Project Manager to lead enterprise HR initiatives, including succession planning, performance management, and leadership development.

This full-time, on-site role reports to the Director of Human Resources and requires strong leadership, sound decision-making, and the ability to work with senior HR leadership across the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years’ experience or Master's Degree with 6+ years in HR or related field.
• Proven experience leading complex HR projects from initiation through sustainment.
• Ability to operate in ambiguous environments with sound decisions.

Responsibilities

• Partner with HR colleagues across functions to support enterprise talent strategies.
• Lead transformation and project teams from inception to completion with governance.
• Maintain project plans, timelines, status reports, and risk tracking.
• Develop change management strategies and drive adoption.
• Present insights and recommendations to senior executives for growth.
• Provide business insights via data analysis, dashboards, and KPIs.
• Drive HR cycle cadence using agile methods for improvements.
• Collaborate with HRIS/IT to align processes with technology.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication

Decision making in ambiguity

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in HR/Business

Tools

WorkDay

SAP

Eightfold

Saba LX

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

CLEARANCE TYPE: None

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.

The Northrop Grumman Corporate Human Resources team is seeking an experienced Senior Principal HR Project Manager to join our growing HR community in Falls Church, VA. This is a full-time, on-site role reporting to the Director of Human Resources.

This position supports the Corporate Office HR organization and provides senior-level HR project management. The selected candidate will serve as the focal point for HR process execution and the implementation of strategic HR initiatives, including succession planning, performance management, compensation, leadership development, and HR transformation efforts.

The role requires extensive interaction with senior and HR leadership. The ideal candidate will have a strong track record of leadership and sound decision-making, with the ability to realize results in an ambiguous, fast-paced environment. The incumbent must also demonstrate cross-cultural awareness and communication skills to effectively engage a geographically dispersed HR leadership team.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with HR colleagues across functional organizations, talent acquisition, compensation, employee relations, organizational effectiveness, and HRIS to support and advance enterprise talent strategies.
• Lead transformation and project teams from inception to completion, including chartering, strategic planning, stakeholder input, implementation, training facilitation, communications, and progress tracking.
• Establish and maintain project plans, timelines, status reports, and governance routines (e.g., steering updates, decision logs, risk/issue tracking) for key HR initiatives.
• Develop and execute change management strategies, including communication, training, people manager, and executive sponsor plans to drive adoption.
• Analyze and concisely present information, insights, and recommendations to senior executives to support business growth and sound decision-making.
• Provide business insights through data analysis, dashboard use, research, and benchmarking; define and monitor KPIs to measure program effectiveness.
• Drive operational cadence and streamline annual HR cycles, using agile methodologies to adapt and improve HR projects based on continuous feedback and sustainment plans.
• Partner with HRIS and IT teams to align HR processes with enabling technologies, including requirements definition, testing, and rollout support.
• Create and facilitate briefings and working sessions for senior executives and HR leadership to align priorities, decisions, and trade-offs.
• Lead leadership development efforts, including annual comprehensive succession planning and strategic leadership movement, partnering with HR team members to build leadership depth.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years’ experience or Master's Degree with 6+ years of experience in Human Resources, Business, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex HR projects or programs from initiation through implementation and sustainment.
• Proven ability to operate effectively in an environment of ambiguity, making sound decisions and driving results.
• Strong leadership, stakeholder management, and relationship-building skills, including experience working with senior leaders.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills, with the ability to concisely synthesize and present information to executives.
• Demonstrated organization, self-motivation, and task ownership, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a high-impact, time-sensitive environment.
• Experience using HR data, dashboards, and metrics to identify trends, risks, and opportunities and to inform decisions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Significant HR experience, including prior experience as an HR Business Partner or equivalent strategic HR role.
• Working knowledge of HRIS platforms and technology, with preferred applications experience in WorkDay, SAP, Eightfold and Saba Learning Exchange (LX).
• Leadership consulting experience, strong presentation and communication skills

Primary Level Salary Range: $117,500.00 - $176,300.00

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.