Supply Chain Planning Specialist - Level 5

About the role

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.

Northrop Grumman's Space Sector invites you to bring your pioneering spirit to our collaborative teams. As a Supply Chain Planning Specialist – Level 5, located onsite in McLean, VA or Chandler, AZ, you'll be a linchpin in missions of paramount importance, defining the art of the possible from day one.

Responsibilities

• Ensure the right materials are available for production and delivered on time.
• Review on-hand vs. required material; prioritize needs, set inventory levels, and plan where materials should be sent.
• Define and execute the material strategy, aligning supply resources with corporate objectives and product‑line priorities.
• Use MRP (Material Requirements Planning) to compare demand and supply for purchased parts, identify shortages, and update plans and orders as inventory changes.
• Use BOMs (Bills of Materials) to identify required parts for each product, monitor inventory against the BOM, and adjust orders accordingly.
• Forecast material needs and build delivery schedules so parts arrive when they’re needed.
• Support product changes across the lifecycle, including new launches, production ramp-ups, and end-of-life phase-outs.
• Work with Sourcing/Procurement to set inventory targets, reduce working capital, and drive cost savings, affordability, and process improvements.
• Assess supplier and supply chain capacity, review lead times, flag time-critical purchases, and work with suppliers to deliver on time and at the right quality.
• Partner with Program Management, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, and Procurement to solve problems, meet build/test schedules, and communicate current/potential shortages and their impact.
• Define, develop, and execute material procurement strategies based upon program-defined requirements and schedules.
• Evaluate Supply Chain planning, progress, or issues utilizing metrics and reporting performance to senior Supply Chain Planners and Supply Chain management staff.
• Assess supply resources; aggregate and prioritize demand requirements; plan inventory, distribution requirements, production, material and rough-cut capacity for all products.
• Participate in make/buy process, long-term capacity and resource planning; product phase-in/phase-out, manufacturing ramp-up, end-of-life management and product-line management.
• Support evaluation of Bill-of-Materials (BOM) requirements to build required inventory levels.
• Optimize inventory across dependent and independent BOMs, adjusting supply requirements to balance service levels, working capital, and stock‑out risk.
• Partner with sourcing, operations, and finance to synchronize inventory targets, resolve non‑standard part requirements, and mitigate critical‑path procurements.
• Coach and mentor junior material planners across the team.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree and 12 years of supply chain, contracts, subcontracts, procurement, logistics or other relevant experience.
• Or in lieu of a degree, 16 years of supply chain, contracts, subcontracts, procurement, logistics or other relevant experience.
• Proven Experience with Costpoint or similar ERP system.
• Experience with material planning for an Aerospace and/or defense company order, supply, and demand workflows.
• Strong experience with data analysis/management tools such as, MS Excel and/or MS Access.
• Experience with MS Office Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Preferred Qualifications

• Aerospace Supply Chain Experience.
• Space Supply Chain experience.
• Experience with a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) System.
• Northrop Grumman Supply Chain experience.

Pay

The primary level salary range is $126,400.00 - $219,500.00. 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.

Benefits

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.