Consulting Chief Engineer - Battle Management

Relocation assistance may be available. Clearance required for start: Yes (Secret). Travel: Yes, approximately 25% of time.

About the role

At Northrop Grumman’s Aeronautics Systems – Research & Advanced Design (R&AD) we transform breakthrough ideas into mission‑ready capabilities. The Battle Management Operating Unit (OU) in Redondo Beach, CA; El Segundo, CA; or Melbourne, FL leads research & development projects in Advanced Autonomy, Joint All‑Domain Command & Control (JADC2), and Battle Management Architecture, Systems, and Technologies (BAST). As Consulting Chief Engineer you will lead a multi‑disciplinary engineering team, serve as the technical authority for the OU, and act as the principal technical interface with customers and senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical authority for the OU, providing technical direction and leadership to internally funded and contracted activities
• Serve as the focal point for definition and control of technical requirements, and ensure technical coordination and horizontal integration across projects
• Serve as the principal technical interface with the customer and company senior leadership
• Ensure that programs adhere to sound engineering principles and comply with relevant company policies, procedures, and quality standards
• Oversee and ensure technical performance measures are being met by the Engineering team within allocated cost and schedule resources
• Serve as the chairperson of the Technical Review Board (TRB)
• Support program managers in risk and opportunity management by identifying and owning risks associated with technical performance
• Provide technical leadership, direction and mentoring to technical contributors in the application of systems engineering principles, tools, and techniques to achieve practical end results

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science degree in a related STEM discipline and 16 years relevant professional/military experience; OR a Master of Science degree in a related STEM discipline and 14 years of relevant experience; OR a PhD in a related STEM discipline and 12 years of relevant experience
• Demonstrated professional experience related to air vehicle flight autonomy, mission autonomy, battle management command & control architectures/implementations, or networking and communications technologies
• Demonstrated experience with interfacing with customers and company leadership
• Experience integrating multiple engineering specialties and experience working across multiple Business Units within a company, as well as with industry partners and customer community through strong collaboration skills
• Active US Government Secret or higher clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation)
• Ability to obtain and maintain Special Program Access (SAP) and TS/SCI clearance within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs
• Ability to travel up to 15%

Preferred Qualifications

• Active US Government Top Secret or TS/SCI clearance, one or more SAP clearances
• Familiarity with US Government customer community in one or more relevant areas
• Experience across multiple phases of program lifecycle, including business development, business acquisition, research & development, production and sustainment
• Experience as a Chief Engineer or technical lead with the planning and execution of technical design and integration tasks on schedule, at cost and achieving all technical requirements
• Demonstrated experience in making sound decisions in uncertain, ambiguous or difficult situations
• Excellent organizational and written communication skills, as well as project management planning and presentation skills

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage
• Life and disability insurance
• Savings plan
• Company paid holidays
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business
• Overtime eligibility (where applicable)
• Shift differential (where applicable)
• Discretionary bonus (where applicable)
• Annual bonuses tied to individual performance and company results
• Long Term Incentives (for Vice President or Director positions)

Pay

Primary Level Salary Range: $183,200.00 – $318,100.00. Base salary is determined by the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s experience, education, skills, and current market conditions. Depending on the role, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses reward individual contributions and allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives.