The Mission Enabling Products 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.
The Mission Enabling Products (MEP) organization is seeking a Composites Manufacturing Engineer 3 to assist an experienced team of engineers to perform manufacturing and design engineering on one or more spacecraft systems or subsystems.
This position is located in San Diego, CA.
Responsibilities:
Plans, directs, and coordinates manufacturing processes on factory (manufacturing) floor
Develops, evaluates, and improves manufacturing methods, utilizing knowledge of spacecraft design, composite materials, composite fabrication and processes, tooling and production equipment capabilities, composite assembly methods, and quality control standards.
Designs manufacturing workflow, layout of equipment and workspace for maximum efficiency.
Authors detailed manufacturing work instructions that define the specific processes to manufacture hardware.
Creates complete and accurate bill of materials (BOM) for manufactured hardware
Communicates with design staff regarding product design and tooling to ensure efficient production methods.
Creates purchase requests and partners with vendors to determine product specifications of equipment, materials, or parts, and evaluates products according to specifications and quality standards.
Support proposal effort by estimating production times and related costs to provide information for management decisions.
Effectively communicates with management, engineering, and other staff regarding manufacturing capabilities, and other considerations to facilitate and improve production processes.
Applies statistical methods to estimate future manufacturing requirements and potential improvements.
Basic Qualifications for Level 2:
Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering and 2+ years of experience as a Manufacturing Engineer, Master’s Degree and 0+ years of experience.
Experience must include lay-up, machining, assembly and inspection of composite flight materials and hardware.
Ability to read, interpret and create engineering drawings with proper application of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).
Effective communication within teams, cross-functional collaboration, and leadership skills.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.15).
Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret and Top-Secret CSI clearance
Basic Qualifications for Level 3:
Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering and 5+ years of experience, Master’s Degree and 3+ years of experience.
Experience must include lay-up, machining, assembly and inspection of composite flight materials and hardware.
Ability to read, interpret and create engineering drawings with proper application of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).
Effective communication within teams, cross-functional collaboration, and leadership skills.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.15).
Must have the ability to obtain a DoD Secret and Top-Secret CSI clearance
Preferred Qualifications:
Capable of representing an organization as a technical contact and interact with program teams and leadership as the technical expert for the manufacturing process.
Knowledge and application of continuous improvement philosophy, methodology, and tools.
Technical problem solving skills, including formal root cause and corrective action identification and implementation.
Strong organizational and time management skills to successfully engage in multiple programs simultaneously.
Proficient in MS Office – (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project)
Prefer CAD experience (NX-10/Team-center or other CAD experience).
Skills Required
- Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering and 2+ years of manufacturing engineering experience (Level 2)
- Master's Degree in relevant field and 0+ years of manufacturing engineering experience (Level 2 option)
- Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering and 5+ years of manufacturing engineering experience (Level 3)
- Master's Degree in relevant field and 3+ years of manufacturing engineering experience (Level 3 option)
- Experience with lay-up, machining, assembly, and inspection of composite flight materials and hardware
- Ability to read, interpret, and create engineering drawings with proper application of GD&T
- Effective communication, cross-functional collaboration, and leadership skills
- Applicants must be U.S. citizens as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.15)
- Ability to obtain and maintain DoD Secret and Top-Secret/SCI clearance
- Capable of representing organization as technical contact and interacting with program teams and leadership
- Knowledge and application of continuous improvement philosophy, methodology, and tools
- Technical problem solving skills, including formal root cause and corrective action identification and implementation
- Strong organizational and time management skills to engage in multiple programs
- Proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project)
- Prefer CAD experience (NX-10/Teamcenter or other CAD experience)
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.









