Sr Principal Chief Engineer

Company	Northrop Grumman
Location	San Diego, CA, USA
Salary	$137400 – $206000
Type	Full-Time
Degrees	Bachelor’s, Master’s
Experience Level	Expert or higher

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) field and 9+ years of related technical experience, OR Master’s Degree in a STEM field and 7+ years of related technical experience
Experience as a Subject Matter Expert (SME), Technical Lead, Integrated Product Team (IPT) Lead, Chief Engineer, or other engineering leadership role that demonstrates team building, organizational, and interpersonal skills
Broad experience across multiple engineering disciplines (design, analysis, materials, manufacturing, and test)
Experience in designing, building, testing and deploying mission critical systems through Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP), Initial Operating Capability (IOC), and Full Rate Production (FRP)
Technical proficiency in material test and development, metals, fiber reinforced composites, failure mode mechanisms, manufacturing, and applications
Demonstrated experience with discrepancy/non-conformance resolution, Root Cause & Corrective Action (RCCA), Material Review Boards (MRB) and Failure Review Boards (FRB)
Experience with FAA, FAR, and DoD requirements and programs
Experience in the design and analysis of aircraft structural and/or mechanical systems
Familiarity with RF electrical properties of materials, RF analysis, and test techniques
Experience with development programs including internal research and development (IRAD) or customer-funded research and development (CRAD)
Experience with proposal development
Ability to mentor, provide feedback, and coaching
Ability and experience making sound decisions that impact the organization’s operations and performance
Ability to travel up to 25% of the time

Responsibilities

Responsible for the technical direction and execution of all aspects of engineering on a program including design, development, implementation, integration, testing, and delivery of product to the customer
Serve as the senior technical leader for the program engineering team and technical advisor to the program manager
Ensure that all engineering teams adhere to sound engineering processes, in accordance with company policies, procedures, and quality standards
Maintain cognizance over technical activities within program’s Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) and ensure horizontal integration of the best engineering practices across the company
Perform systems engineering and program management related roles and functions as necessary
Engage customers and guide technical spec and requirements evolution to better position business for technical success
Serve as technical lead for proposals providing technical input, risk assessment, and performing initial requirements compliance matrix assessment
Be the voice of the customer and communicate NG’s technical value to the customer
Perform or lead architecture trade studies, early program technical interaction, communicate customer goals (written or implied)
Guide technical decisions and arbitrate conflicts
Act as chair for program and product value stream design control during developmental phase of the program
Participate in and or lead FRB/MRB activities
Provide escalation following established tiered Escalation Process
Maintain an awareness of customer needs, market / industry trends, and latest tech developments
Represent the product line and advocate for IRAD and tech development investment
Develop and maintain product value stream IRAD and technology roadmaps
Establish program milestone review plan in collaboration with PM and customer
Develop and evaluate initial program concept and support schedule (IMS) development
Derive requirements for program/architecture concept from spec requirements
Process capabilities vs requirements negotiation (proposal and concurrent engineering phase)
Convene and chair program technical kick-off meetings
Support ITAR/Export compliance and classification guidance as Technical Advisor (TA) (ITC role) for the product line
Own requirements compliance matrix in collaboration with Integrated Product Teams (IPT)
Lead and/or support technical peer (independent) reviews at product level
Collaboration of multi-site technical teams
Serve as technical advisor to program management
Oversee design evolution and continually evaluate technical, cost, and schedule and implement mitigation planning
Monitor manufacturability and cost performance
Engagement with manufacturing team (Ops. VSL, Tooling, ME, QE)
Provide guidance on improvements to meet external customer needs
Capture, archive, and share lessons learned across value stream
Evaluate engineering cost performance for execution/process improvement opportunities
Mentor junior engineers

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering
Familiarity with ceramic materials and high temperature applications
Familiarity with design and analysis engineering software tools including FEMAP, NASTRAN, NX, Teamcenter, LS Dyna
Experience with cost account management (CAM)
Current, active DoD Secret clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation) is required at time of application PREFERRED
Ability to obtain and maintain Top-Secret security clearance as well as the ability to obtain and maintain SCI
Experience with Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and foreign customers
Ability to seek out, and utilize proper experience base across enterprise to resolve technical issues and or attract new business