Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is seeking a Director of Human Resources (HR) to become part of our HR leadership team supporting the Engineering Global Surveillance Division in a functional facing leadership role. The Global Surveillance organization is comprised of approximately 2,800 employees.
This key leadership position will be located on-site in Melbourne, FL and reports to the Aeronautics Systems (AS) Senior HR Director for Engineering. The selected candidate will be the primary strategic partner for the Global Surveillance Engineering organization within Northrop Grumman’s Aeronautics Systems sector, and will lead a team comprised of one HR Manager and five HR Business Partners responsible for development and implementation of HR strategy, leading human capital programs and core processes across the Engineering division (including, but not limited to, talent assessment and development, performance management, employee relations, total rewards, succession planning and talent pipeline development, organization effectiveness, and leadership development).
We are seeking a proven human resources leader to provide thought leadership and demonstrated ability to coach and influence at the executive level. An ideal 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.
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 the alignment of human capital strategies with engineering program milestones.
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
Key responsibilities for this role include, but are not limited to:
Implementing HR strategy and initiatives aligned to sector, function and division matrix.
Lead a team of HR professionals by providing guidance, flow-down, coaching and support to optimize their performance and potential to provide best-in-class HR partnership and thought leadership.
Partnering with Engineering division leadership to develop talent management, succession planning, and talent review strategy/cadence to bolster leadership talent capability and strengthen the talent pipeline.
Partnering with Engineering division leadership to identify talent retention strategies to drive best in class employee experience (leveraging total rewards, company mission and values, best in class culture, career development and employee flexibility).
Effectively communicate and partner with internal and external stakeholders to influence and guide our engineering and technical talent teams.
Navigate and optimize HR service delivery across a matrixed environment, collaborating with functional HR peers, Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, Total Rewards, and Legal, and other centers of excellence (COEs)
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.
Serve as a trusted advisor and executive coach to the Vice President of Engineering, engineering functional directors.
Basic Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree with at least 12 years of HR or related experience OR a Master's degree with at least 10 years of HR or related experience.
Experience managing and leading teams; strong people leader and manager with a focus on inspiring and enabling an inclusive, development-focused, and high-performance culture.
Strong communicator, collaborator and relationship-builder; experience with influencing, coaching, and consulting with multiple senior executives concurrently.
Experienced at leveraging HR processes, tools and data & analytics to accelerate business results and enhance business and employee growth and the employee experience.
Demonstrated change management experience, problem solving skills, and the ability to be flexible and adaptable.
Executive-level verbal and written communication skills.
Candidates must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government secret level security clearance as a condition of continued employment.
Preferred Qualifications:
Previous experience in Aerospace & Defense and/or government contracting.
Experience leading a team as an HR manager or higher responsible for multiple HR disciplines.
Candidates must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government top secret level security clearance as a condition of continued employment
Proficiency with HRIS platforms and emerging technology trends.
Experience working in a matrix environment.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree with at least 12 years of HR or related experience OR Master's degree with at least 10 years of HR or related experience
- Experience managing and leading teams; strong people leader and manager
- Strong communicator, collaborator and relationship-builder; experience influencing, coaching, and consulting with multiple senior executives concurrently
- Experience leveraging HR processes, tools and data & analytics to accelerate business results and enhance employee experience
- Demonstrated change management experience, problem solving skills, and ability to be flexible and adaptable
- Executive-level verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government secret level security clearance (U.S. citizenship required)
- Previous experience in Aerospace & Defense and/or government contracting
- Experience leading a team as an HR manager or higher responsible for multiple HR disciplines
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government top secret level security clearance
- Proficiency with HRIS platforms and emerging technology trends
- Experience working in a matrix environment
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.









