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Consulting Chief Engineers

Northrop Grumman
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San Diego, CA, USA
Sep 20, 2026
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be availableCLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: YesCLEARANCE TYPE: Top SecretTRAVEL: Yes, 50% 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.

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has two openings for Consulting Chief Engineers to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our RQ4 FMS & RQ4-USAF Business Area Programs. The FMS Business Area is comprised of two Programs: Republic of Korea (RoK) and Japan (JPN). These roles are located in San Diego, CA. The selected candidate will be required to work full-time, on-site at our facility.  There is no remote / hybrid / telework available for this position.

The Chief Engineer is responsible for the technical baseline of all platforms, has technical authority for any changes to the system, and provides technical leadership and direction to the Business Area engineering team in executing the statements of work across the entire lifecycle of the Program.

SUMMARY OF SKILLS

The individual selected for this position will be responsible for leading over 100 engineers in the FMS portfolio or over 200 engineers in the USAF portfolio through sustainment, improvement, and development of new capabilities for the ROK and Japan platforms.

  • The CE is responsible for the overall execution and technical performance of the portfolio comprised of members from each technical IPT (Systems Engineering, Air Vehicle, Mission Systems, Software, and Test).
  • Oversee all major technical reviews (SRR, SFR, PDR, CDR, TRR, FRR, etc.), thus ensuring execution efforts are delivering quality products on time and within budget.
  • Serves as the principal technical interface with the customer.
  • Demonstrate experience and understanding of software development, avionics integration, systems engineering (including requirements analysis, modeling and simulation, and verification at subsystem and system level), integration and test in both laboratory and flight test environments.
  • Ensures Key Performance Parameters, Technical Performance Measures (First Time Quality included) are being tracked, adhered to, and are satisfying customer and program requirements.
  • Provides technical leadership and ensures that programs are identifying, reviewing, and managing risks, issues, opportunities.
  • Ensures Systems Safety and Airworthiness compliance efforts are being addressed satisfactorily throughout the execution efforts of the development programs.
  • Performs critical decisions to halt and correct planned test events if system safety is compromised.
  • Elevates issues of significant technical consequence to the Enterprise CE and to the VP of Engineering, as appropriate.
  • Ensures robust systems engineering practices are employed in establishing bids for proposals and ECPs.
  • Reviews proposals and ECPs and approves them for technical adequacy and executability.
  • Provides inputs to IPTs and functional home room leadership regarding the performance of Engineering personnel supporting the CE and/or IPTs in executing program statement of work.
  • Provides constructive feedback and improvement recommendations to the IPTs and to the functional homeroom as the Voice of the Customer regarding people, processes and tools.
  • Develops, implements and maintains the technical product roadmaps for a program.

Core Technical Competencies include:

  • Strong technical judgment and risk management capability, including making, communicating, and defending risk acceptance decisions under uncertainty.
  • Demonstrated technical leadership as a chief/lead engineer or equivalent technical authority on complex, multi‑disciplinary systems or programs.
  • Strong systems engineering and systems thinking skills, including requirements development, architecture, integration, and verification/validation.
  • Experience leading system architecture and design trades, balancing performance, cost, schedule, safety, and producibility/supportability.
  • Deep expertise in at least one relevant technical discipline, with broad working knowledge across hardware, software, networks, integration, and test.
  • Experience driving cross-functional technical integration across IPTs, suppliers, and specialty engineering (safety, reliability, RAM, etc.).

Basic Qualifications:

  • Must have a Bachelor’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) discipline AND 16 years of experience on manned or unmanned aircraft systems, OR a Master’s degree in STEM AND 14 years of experience on manned or unmanned aircraft systems, OR a Ph.D. in STEM AND 11 years of experience on manned or unmanned aircraft systems.
  • Subject Matter Expert in two or more Core Technical Competency areas:
    • Technical judgement and risk management
    • Demonstrated technical leadership
    • Systems engineering and systems thinking skills
    • Leading system architecture and design trades
    • Deep expertise in one relevant technical discipline
    • Experience leading cross functional technical integration
  • Must have demonstrated knowledge and experience of aircraft systems including air vehicle, mission computing, communications, and sensors.
  • Must have familiarity with leading large technical proposals and the ability to lead the customer through reviews of technical performance.
  • Must have an active DoD Top Secret (or higher) clearance.
  • Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Active TS/SCI.
  • Advanced degree in a relevant field (MS/PhD).
  • Experience with Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) Systems.
  • Experience with radar systems and satellite communication.
  • Experience with airworthiness certification / MIL-HDBK 516.
  • Experience with product lifecycle through sustainment and operations.
Primary Level Salary Range: $212,100.00 - $318,100.00The 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.

Job ID

R10238305

Security Clearance

Top Secret
About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees are Defining Possible every day to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services. Northrop Grumman careers and internships are as varied as your interests, with a lifetime of potential that will allow you to work together with people from many backgrounds, personal passions and disciplines.

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