Expand your horizons, advance your career, and contribute to a secure future for generations. Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector invites you to bring your pioneering spirit to our collaborative teams. As a Flight Controller – Level 1 or 2 located in Dulles, VA, you’ll be a linchpin in missions of paramount importance, defining the art of the possible from day one. You’ll be primarily supporting the Flight Dynamics team on IceSat-2 which is designed to measure the 3D elevation of Earth’s ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, forests, and water surfaces using advanced laser technology to track changes over time. This position is 100% onsite and cannot accommodate telecommute work.
Job responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
Provide mission operations support to Satellite programs including flight control.
Support system maintenance activities such as procedure updates, architecture upkeep, and formal program milestones.
Work with systems engineers to conduct anomaly review board investigations as necessary.
Conduct testing using simulators and resolve discrepancies.
Develop and test command procedures, telemetry pages, and other products derived from vendor provided documentation
Monitor vehicle state of health across all subsystems and perform short and long-term telemetry trending.
Track space vehicle configuration, to include both hardware, software, and configurable item parameters.
Make modifications to existing operations procedures to incorporate lessons learned from in-flight performance. Develop new procedures as required.
·Provide status reporting through both the functional and program reporting branches.
Maintain standards associated with the established functional group processes.
Support internal and external customer meetings through proficient verbal and documented (MS PowerPoint, MS Word, MS Excel) communications.
Other duties as assigned
This position is contingent upon the candidate obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company.
Basic Qualifications for Associate Engineer:
A candidate, regardless of age and hiring source, must meet ALL of the below criteria. The candidate must:
Be completing or has completed their Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution.
Be majoring in or having majored in a STEM field
Be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance (U.S. citizenship is a pre-requisite)
Ability to work within a group of diversified individuals with varying backgrounds to achieve mission success
Outstanding verbal and written communications skills, including ability to make persuasive presentations to external customers at milestone review
Willingness and ability to support a 24/7 environment
Basic Qualifications for an Engineer:
Be completing or has completed their Master’s Degree from an accredited institution.
Be majoring in or having majored in a STEM Field
Be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance (U.S. citizenship is a pre-requisite)
Ability to work within a group of diversified individuals with varying backgrounds to achieve mission success
Outstanding verbal and written communications skills, including ability to make persuasive presentations to external customers at milestone review
Willingness and ability to support a 24/7 environment
Preferred Qualifications for both levels:
Prior experience conducting on-orbit mission operations and resolving satellite and ground system anomalies highly preferred
Experience related to STK/ODTK
Experience writing technical documents for external customers
Leadership experience within a diverse team of engineers/operators
Associate Salary Ranges: 76,200 - 114,400
Engineer Salary Ranges91,800.00 - 137,600.00
Primary Level Salary Range: $76,400.00 - $114,400.00Secondary Level Salary Range: $91,800.00 - $137,600.00The 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.Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in a STEM field (Associate level)
- Master's degree in a STEM field (Engineer level)
- U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance
- Ability to work within a diverse team to achieve mission success
- Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, including presentations to external customers
- Willingness and ability to support a 24/7 operations environment
- Prior on-orbit mission operations and satellite/ground anomaly resolution experience
- Experience with STK and ODTK
- Experience writing technical documents for external customers
- Leadership experience within diverse engineering/operator teams
Northrop Grumman Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Northrop Grumman and has not been reviewed or approved by Northrop Grumman.
-
Retirement Support — 401(k) matching is considered strong, with additional defined-benefit coverage for certain cohorts and options like catch-up contributions. Retirement programs are repeatedly highlighted as a core strength of the total rewards.
-
Leave & Time Off Breadth — PTO, company-paid holidays, and compressed work schedules (such as 9/80) provide meaningful time away and flexibility. These scheduling options are cited as a major quality-of-life benefit across many locations.
-
Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave alongside caregiver leave, adoption assistance, and back-up care supports a range of family needs. These programs have been expanded recently, signaling continued investment in family support.
Northrop Grumman Insights
What We Do
We are a close-knit community of big thinkers collaborating to keep the world safe. Our passion, creativity and expertise bring next-level technology solutions to life in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, space, and logistics and modernization for our customers around the globe. On the Northrop Grumman team, you’ll join our pursuit of excellence immersed in a dynamic culture of innovation and respect. Your unique perspective will help achieve our shared vision for the future of global security. Every step of the way, you'll be supported by world-class training, employee resource groups and a comprehensive benefits package that enables greater health and happiness for you and your family. Worldwide and across disciplines, we’re challenging what’s possible for technology to protect people and places from undersea to outer space and into cyberspace. And we see the impact of our performance every day. We are Northrop Grumman, and we work on what matters—now, you too can make a difference. Explore opportunities in engineering, IT, manufacturing, business management, cybersecurity and more with us. Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.






