Staff Engineer Systems - Engineering Reachback

Northrop Grumman; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 177,000 - 266,000; Full time

Job summary

Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, CA is seeking a Reachback IPT Lead to align engineering products with test objectives, schedules, and cost. You will guide a cross-functional team of 10+ engineers, manage budget and scope with CAM/EVM, and serve as technical authority for test-related objectives.

Requires TS clearance and ability to obtain SAP clearance; on-site role with up to 10% travel. You will coordinate with Test and engineering teams to ensure timely issue resolution and successful program

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in STEM with 12+ years of relevant military/professional experience; or MS with 10+; or PhD with 8+.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance or higher.
• Ability to obtain SAP clearance within a reasonable time as required.
• Experience leading cross functional technical teams of 10+ individuals.
• Experience with project/program management practices, including CAM and EVM, RIO management.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Reachback IPT Lead and primary interface between the Test team and engineering functional organizations.
• Own budget, scope, and schedule for the IPT’s engineering work; apply CAM/EVM practices to manage performance.
• Act as technical authority for test related objectives within your scope, ensuring technical accuracy and compliance with program and regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate, prioritize, and track engineering reachback requests to provide timely resolution of technical issues and troubleshooting needs.
• Lead the IPT through changes to requirements, test plans, and procedures; assess impacts to cost, schedule, and technical performance and drive approval and documentation.
• Maintain regular communication with Test, Engineering Homeroom Organization, and other stakeholders; prepare concise updates, reports, and briefings for program reviews and technical interchange meetings.
• Use metrics to monitor IPT performance, demonstrate progress to commitments, and define/recover to plans when needed.
• Provide day to day leadership to a cross functional team of 10+ engineers, fostering collaboration, accountability, and high performance.
• This is a full time, on site position; no remote, hybrid, or telework is available. Up to 10% travel may be required.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

CAM / EVM management

RIO management

Project planning & scheduling

Education

Bachelor of Science in STEM (12+ yrs)

Master of Science in STEM (10+ yrs)

PhD in STEM (8+ yrs)

Bachelor of Science in STEM

Tools

SAP/SAR access

CAM/EVM tooling

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes
CLEARANCE TYPE: Top 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.Palmdale, CA. The selected candidate will lead a cross functional engineering team providing technical reachback support to the Test organization, ensuring alignment of engineering products with test objectives, schedule, and cost.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as Reachback IPT Lead and primary interface between the Test team and engineering functional organizations.
• Own budget, scope, and schedule for the IPT’s engineering work; apply CAM/EVM practices to manage performance.
• Act as technical authority for test related objectives within your scope, ensuring technical accuracy and compliance with program and regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate, prioritize, and track engineering reachback requests to provide timely resolution of technical issues and troubleshooting needs.
• Lead the IPT through changes to requirements, test plans, and procedures; assess impacts to cost, schedule, and technical performance and drive approval and documentation.
• Maintain regular communication with Test, Engineering Homeroom Organization, and other stakeholders; prepare concise updates, reports, and briefings for program reviews and technical interchange meetings.
• Use metrics to monitor IPT performance, demonstrate progress to commitments, and define/recover to plans when needed.
• Provide day to day leadership to a cross functional team of 10+ engineers, fostering collaboration, accountability, and high performance.
• This is a full time, on site position; no remote, hybrid, or telework is available. Up to 10% travel may be required.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) discipline with 12 years of relevant military/professional experience; OR Master of Science degree in a STEM discipline with 10 years of relevant military/professional experience; OR PhD with 8 years of relevant military/professional experience.
• Must have an active U.S.Government Top Secret Clearance or higher (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation)
• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance, within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
• Experience leading cross functional technical teams of 10 or more individuals.
• Experience with project/program management practices, including:
• Control Account Management (CAM) and Earned Value Management (EVM)
• Risks - Issues - Opportunities (RIO) management
• Project planning, scheduling, staffing, and coordination of technical work.

Preferred Qualifications

• Current, applicable SAP/SAR access.
• Experience working with external and geographically distributed teams to meet program objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to operate across multiple organizations, build alignment, and make timely decisions.
• Proven use of metrics to track performance to plan and manage recovery where needed.
• Experience leading multiple teams through technically complex, integrated deliveries (e.g., test events, major reviews, or system-level integrations).

Primary Level Salary Range: $177,000.00 - $265,600.00
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.