Description

Northrop Grumman’s Aeronautics Systems sector designs and builds some of the most advanced aircraft in the world. Within the sector, the Air Dominance Division works at the edge of what’s physically and computationally possible, and every program in that portfolio starts the same way: a decision about whether to pursue it, what it should cost, and how to convince a sophisticated customer that the number we’re putting forward is the right one.

That decision is an analytical one. The people who do that work sit inside Business Management, specifically the Pricing and Estimating group, where we partner with engineers, manufacturing, supply chain, program management, and others to answer a hard question: what will this aircraft, this capability, this multi‑year commitment actually cost? The work pulls from a range of estimating methodologies, real program data, supplier inputs, and engineering experience - and the analysts who do it well shape decisions that play out over years.

As a Staff Proposal Analyst, you'll join a business unit within the Air Dominance Division and serve as its most senior technical voice on cost analysis. You won't just lead proposals. You'll shape how analysis gets done across the business unit and influence how it's done across the division and sector. You'll make the hard methodology calls, set the bar for what a credible analytical position looks like on new pursuits or programs, and serve as a thought partner to capture leads, program directors, and sector executives. The senior analysts below you will look to you as the person who sets the technical standard for the discipline.

The role is based 100% onsite in Palmdale, San Diego, or El Segundo, California.

Responsibilities

• Shape the analytical approach to the business unit's most significant pursuits, from pre-RFP positioning through final recommendation
• Set methodology and analytical standards across cost modeling, sensitivity analysis, risk-adjusted positioning, and competitive benchmarking
• Lead executive-level reviews of analytical work, and be the senior Pricing and Estimating voice in the room with capture, program, and finance leadership
• Present analyses at division, sector, and corporate reviews; brief senior executives on the reasoning behind significant cost positions
• Partner with the negotiation team through customer discussions, contributing the depth of analytical understanding that supports shared clarity on how a number was built
• Drive analytical tooling and methodology improvements (data pipelines, modeling frameworks, statistical approaches) that outlive any single pursuit
• Serve as a technical mentor to senior analysts at earlier levels, helping them grow into the kind of analyst who can take on this work themselves

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 12 years OR Master’s degree and 10 years of professional experience in pricing, estimating, finance, data analytics, consulting, engineering economics, or a field with comparable analytical depth, including leading analytical work on large, complex proposals or long‑cycle programs.
• Active US Government Secret clearance or higher (background investigation within the last 5 years or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation)
• Ability to obtain and maintain a US Government Top Secret clearance, with Special Access Program (SAP) clearance as required
• U.S. citizenship
• Working knowledge of U.S. Government acquisition (FAR/DFARS), applied in real work
• Strong analytical fluency and Excel modeling at depth

Preferred Qualifications

• Comfort with Python, R, SQL, or a comparable analytical environment
• Recognized as a subject‑matter expert in cost analysis and estimating methodologies, the person other analysts and leaders turn to for judgment calls
• Demonstrated record of leading analytical work behind large, complex aerospace, defense, or comparable long-cycle programs
• Deep command of cost‑modeling and estimating methodologies (parametric, analogy, and bottoms‑up), and the judgment to know when to apply each
• Comfort engaging with executives, capture leadership, and government customers at senior levels
• Track record of mentoring analysts into more senior roles