Sr. Principal Chief Engineer

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

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.

The Payload and Ground Systems organization within the Northrop Grumman Space Systems pushes the boundaries of innovation, redefines engineering capabilities, and drives advances in various sciences. Our team is chartered with providing the skills, innovative technologies to develop, design, produce and sustain optimized product lines across the sector while providing a decisive advantage to the warfighter. Come be a part of our mission.

You’ll be joining an existing on-contract program supporting a critical national security mission that is both in Operations and continuing development. The program team of approximately 40 members is geographically dispersed across the US, centered around Aurora, CO. The team is composed of software developers organized into agile scrum teams focused on development based on priorities provided by the customer. The program is utilizing new commercial technologies to solve the DoD’s problems and executes in a modern agile framework. The program’s culture is agile, fast-paced, high performing, proactive, collaborative, and welcoming of new ideas, technology, and tools that could benefit the mission or help the team be more productive or produce a higher quality product. This position may be done in either Aurora, CO or Redondo Beach, CA.

This program is seeking an experienced and motivated Chief Engineer to join the team. This role will serve as the technical authority for all aspects of software and systems engineering by leading a multi-disciplined engineering team to successfully deliver technical performance within cost and schedule.
Job responsibilities include, but not limited to, the following:
•    Be an advisor and/or technical liaison between Chief Product Owner, Chief Scrum Master, Chief Architect, and the Program Manager.
•    Be a technical leader for the engineering team 
•    Be responsible for developing and sharing program strategic and mission path forward, vision, and objectives with program 
•    Be the technical authority for all aspects of engineering on the program 
•    Inform the PM on technical direction affecting scope and issues that warrant Government customer notification and/or decision
•    Coordinate across leadership to define strategic technical roadmap in the 1 year, 2 year, and 5 year timeframes
•    Ensure technical solutions align with customer mission objectives (i.e. connect mission and technical product roadmap) – Are we building the right thing?
•    Collaborate with customers and stakeholders to understand business needs and align technical solutions
•    Ensure the solution meets the overall mission needs in conjunction with other contracted program partners
•    Support Risk and Opportunity Management process by identifying and owning applicable risks 
•    Review and ensure system technical compliance with the program’s Operating Model

• Provide oversight for software architecture and design
• Oversee the development process in implementing technical solutions
• Resolve technical challenges and guide the team in implementing solutions
• Ensure focus on technical solution quality

•    Manage program technical resources (e.g. involvement with interviews and program staffing)
•    Represent Northrop Grumman on technical aspects of the program at customer and contracted partner meetings
•    Ensure the technical team is thoroughly prepared for Government engagement activities and technical approaches that require Government decisions
•    Manage the execution of software engineering processes
•    Be accountable for system technical performance (Service Level Agreements, Service Level Interfaces)
•    Ensure Mission Engineering (ME) is informed and jointly conduct technical solution analysis with Chief Architect and ME

The Chief Engineer is expected to quickly gain mission and system domain knowledge coupling that with prior experience to mentor and influence others as well as contribute to advancing the program forward through their job. The program appreciates team members that identify and propose improvement ideas in technology, process, architecture, or tooling and are fast-learners. 
If you thrive in this kind of environment, then please apply so we can consider you.

Basic Qualifications
•    Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Top Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with the ability to obtain and maintain Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) approval/access prior to start
•    Ability to pass a Counterintelligence Polygraph (CI-Poly)
•    Must have a completed STEM degree [a degree in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics]  and 8 Years of relevant experience with a bachelor’s degree; 6 Years of relevant experience with a master's degree; 4 Years of relevant experience with a PhD 
•    Minimum of 6 years of experience formally leading engineering teams/and or organizations to achieve a common goal.
•    Clear understanding of Agile Practices and Methodology applied to engineering efforts
•    Strong collaboration and communication skills with high-level leadership as well as with industry and government stakeholders
•    Experience motivating and guiding teams without having formal “ownership” of the staff supporting those activities
•    Ability to travel up to 10% as a part of the role

Preferred Qualifications
•    Active TS/SCI clearance
•    Prior completed Counterintelligence Polygraph (CI-Poly)
•    Prior engineering experience within the US Space Industry
•    Experience with leading technical proposals with the ability to lead the customer through reviews of technical performance
•    Ability to collaborate and achieve consensus when dealing with groups from diverse organizations and backgrounds.
•    Demonstrated experience in making sound decisions in uncertain and difficult situations
•    Breadth in technical background
•    Prior experience as a Chief Engineer or Chief Architect
•    Experience in other Agile servant leadership roles, such as Scrum Master or Product Owner
•    Excellent presentation, communication, technical writing, and organization skills
•    Experience sharing knowledge via mentoring, coaching, or training
•    Experience managing multiple tasks at a time with good results even under pressure
•    If a Software Engineer background, then development experience in JAVA, experience using Docker and Kubernetes, experience with relational databases (RDMS), and experience using Kafka
•    If a Systems Engineer background, then experience as a Systems Engineer on a system or program that uses JAVA, Docker, Kubernetes, relational databases, and Kafka

 

Salary Range: $137,400.00 - $206,000.00

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.