Sr. Staff Engineer – MS IPT Development Lead

Northrop Grumman Corp. (AU); San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 192,800 - 289,200; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Holidays and PTO

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems seeks a Mission Systems IPT Development Lead to guide a 45–50 person engineering team in Rancho Bernardo, CA, delivering innovative communications, networks, payloads and software solutions.

The role requires a STEM degree with extensive engineering experience, strong leadership, and an active DoD clearance. You will drive development across all project phases and ensure high-quality outcomes for complex programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in STEM with 14+ years of related engineering experience, or similar credential.
• Proven leadership of a technical team and strong communication skills.
• Experience with Earned Value Management (EVM) and program performance reporting.
• Active DoD Secret or higher clearance (Top Secret/SCI preferred).

Responsibilities

• Lead a diverse design team of 45–50 engineers across communications, networks, payloads and software.
• Oversee MS IPT scope through all project phases and ensure staffing with required skills.
• Provide CAM oversight, cost and schedule reporting, and risk/mitigation plans.
• Collaborate with Program Management, suppliers and customer to define design vision.
• Drive first-time quality and manage technical changes and ECPs.

Skills

Leadership

Earned Value Management

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's/Master's/PhD in STEM

Engineering experience

Tools

CAM oversight

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 25% 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 Aeronautics Systems has an opening for Mission Systems Integrated Product Team (MS IPT) Development Lead to join the team of qualified individuals on our Avionic Integration Organization. This leadership role is located onsite in Rancho Bernardo, California.

Responsibilities

In this role, the selected candidate will be responsible for leading a diverse engineering design team of approximately 45-50 Comms, Networks, Payloads, and Software engineers to provide imaginative, technical solutions to a wide range of difficult problems across the Program.

The primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Responsible for team performance of all MS IPT scope and activities within the Development portfolio through all project phases (e.g., proposals, planning, execution, & closeout)
• Provide technical guidance, leadership and mentorship to multi-disciplinary team of approximately 50 people to ensure team success across all levels
• Serve as MS IPT focal to Program Management team for Technical, Cost, and Schedule Reporting
• Provide Control Account Manager (CAM) oversight for MS IPT Development team, to include labor and material (subcontractor labor) control accounts, and support monthly Business Rhythm by ensuring accurate EAC forecasting
• Manage staffing in collaboration with the IPT leadership team to ensure sufficient staff levels and appropriate skillsets are available to execute the Development statement of work
• Perform risk and opportunity management, to include developing and tracking mitigation plans
• Coordinate with Supplier Management Teams to manage supplier performance
• Collaborate with Chief Engineer, IPTs, Suppliers, Customer and Program Management to define and execute design vision for future Development capabilities
• Drive first-time quality across Development design and promote culture of technical rigor within Engineering team
• Assist in capture of future development work through bid of future proposed efforts
• Ensure contractual requirements are met for Mission Systems Engineering team including timely update and submittal of deliverables of various CDRLs
• Lead technical anomaly resolution, including adjudication of findings to current and future builds, lead internal and external technical change/ review coordination, and signoff on Development change boards/ECPs for the IPT

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 14 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 12 years of related engineering experience; OR a PhD in a STEM discipline and 10 years of related engineering experience.
• Must demonstrate leadership skills with the ability to work effectively in a team environment and possess effective communication and presentation skills to all levels (individual contributor up to executive leadership, customer representatives, or supplier personnel)
• Must have experience with Earned Value Management (EVM) of labor or material or subcontract labor accounts
• Must have experience in leading a technical team
• Must have experience in Risk and Opportunity Management
• Must have an active DoD secret or higher clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation)
• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain DoD Top Secret/SCI clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Active DoD Top Secret clearance with current SCI and/or SAP
• Must have experience with developing, preparing and defending proposal bids for technical programs
• Experience as a certified CAM
• Experience in technical leadership role as IPT/sub-IPT lead or technical/thread lead in systems engineering, vehicle engineering, avionics, software, electronics, or mission payloads
• Experience in system-level/ hardware-in-the-loop integration/test, and/or other development activities
• Demonstrated championing of technical change which resulted in performance improvements and/or team efficiencies
• Familiarity with HALE ISR UAV programs (Triton, RQ-4)

Compensation and Benefits

Primary Level Salary Range: $192,800.00 - $289,200.00

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.

Equal Opportunity Statement

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.