Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is seeking a Director of Human Resources to become part of our HR leadership team supporting the Airborne Multifunction Sensors (AMS) Division in a functional facing leadership role.
The candidate selected will be the Human Resources (HR) Director located on-site in Baltimore, MD and will be the primary strategic partner for the Baltimore and Partnered Sites (BaPS) Engineering & Sciences (E&S) organization within Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems sector. The HR Director will lead a team of HR business partners who support over 4,500+ employees across 6 different locations.
We are seeking a proven human resources leader to provide thought leadership and demonstrated ability to coach and influence at the executive level. The selected candidate will be expected to develop and deploy a human capital & technical development strategy across the organization. The candidate must have strong relationship building skills and a proven track record of building collaborative partnerships to influence direction and drive change across complex organizations. The ideal candidate will be capable of supporting a large and complex aerospace & defense company in an ever-changing landscape and be able to lead others in a matrixed environment.
Responsibilities of this role include but are not limited to talent strategy and deployment; talent management and succession planning; change management; project management; leadership & technical development; staffing and talent acquisition; employee engagement; compensation oversight; and employee relations.
Key Leadership Behaviors:
Sets a Vision: Strategic thinker. Innovative; regularly advocates and drives meaningful changes & improvements. Creates clarity for team on talent priorities and near and long-term milestones including ensuring the team sees the alignment of their work to the priorities.
Builds a High Performing Team: Strong people leader, manager, collaborator and business partner. Respectful, inclusive, listens to others and enables team success. Models unwavering ethics and values and is a trusted partner to leadership, peers and employees.
Acts with Speed: Decisive and action oriented. Able to respond with thoughtful urgency but also balance priorities to guide team. Leverages HR processes and tools to accelerate business results.
Leads with Courage & Resilience: Self-aware, transparent & authentic. Willing to be bold, speak up and take calculated risk. Creates a learning culture that makes it safe to fail fast as we innovate and try new ways of working.
Takes Ownership: Acts with an “owner” mindset in how they lead the team and make decisions. Holds themselves and their team accountable to deliver results. Looks at measures and outcomes vs completion of activities. Has strong business acumen and uses qualitative and quantitative data to inform recommendations and decisions
In this job, you will:
Be responsible for the broader BaPS E&S talent strategy and execution. This includes leveraging the right tools, resources and teams to produce business outcomes across a large functional organization.
Lead a team of HR professionals by providing guidance, flow-down, coaching and support to optimize their performance and potential.
Partner with the BaPS E&S Vice President and larger engineering leadership team to support both near and long-term talent needs across the organization.
Collaborate closely with the Sector E&S organization and BaPS organization to ensure clear communication, clarity and overall alignment for the leaders, employees and HR teams.
Effectively communicate and partner with internal and external stakeholders to influence and guide our engineering and technical talent teams.
Understand critical skills & supply/demand needs across the technical population to identify trends and inform talent deployment/development actions.
Leverage data insights and trends to inform decisions, identify business challenges and proactively partner with and influence leadership to strategize business solutions.
Bolster technical talent capabilities and pipeline through strong talent management and succession planning efforts.
Basic Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree with 10+ years of professional human resources experience including people management OR Master’s degree with 8+ years of professional human resources experience including people management.
Demonstrated expertise in strategizing and implementing broader workforce strategies across large organizations.
Demonstrated experience leading mid-large team of direct and indirect employees to drive successful business and functional outcomes.
Experience and focus on proactively identifying trends, risks, and opportunities and implementing innovative solutions. Systems level thinking.
Strong change management experience, problem solving skills and the ability to be flexible and adaptable.
Proven ability to lead complex cross-functional projects to completion while tracking ROI and measuring business impact.
Experience collaborating with and influencing senior leaders & stakeholders across organizational boundaries.
Exceptional interpersonal, collaboration, communication and relationship-building skills with an ability to manage multiple clients with multiple needs in an efficient and effective manner.
HR support to executive level leadership.
Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Top-Secret security clearance as a condition of continued employment.
Preferred Qualifications:
U.S. Government Top-Secret security clearance preferred.
Previous experience in Aerospace & Defense and/or government contracting.
Experience working in a matrix environment.
Experience leading a team as a HR manager or higher responsible for multiple HR disciplines.
Proficiency with HRIS platforms and emerging technology trends.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree with 10+ years of professional HR experience including people management OR Master's degree with 8+ years of professional HR experience including people management.
- Proven experience strategizing and implementing workforce strategies across large organizations.
- Demonstrated experience leading mid-large teams of direct and indirect employees to drive business outcomes.
- Strong change management, problem solving, and project management experience with measurable business impact tracking.
- Experience collaborating with and influencing senior leaders and stakeholders across organizational boundaries.
- Exceptional interpersonal, communication, collaboration and relationship-building skills.
- HR support to executive level leadership.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Top-Secret security clearance as a condition of continued employment.
- Located on-site in Baltimore, MD (primary work location).
- U.S. Citizenship required for positions requiring government clearance.
- Proficiency with HRIS platforms and awareness of emerging HR technology trends.
- Previous experience in Aerospace & Defense or government contracting and experience working in a matrix environment.
- Experience leading a HR team responsible for multiple HR disciplines.
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.






