Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems (NGAS) sector is currently hiring a Director of Programs 2 to join the Research & Advanced Design (R&AD) Division. This leadership position will serve as the senior leader of our Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACP) Directorate. This leadership opportunity is based in El Segundo, CA and will frequently travel to other NGAS sites and customer locations.
The ACP Director is responsible for the operations and execution of the ACP Directorate scope of work, focusing on leadership and cross sector and division integration of ACP technology and products.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Organizational Leadership:
- Lead the ACP Directorate in developing and translating the strategic vision into long range plans and short/intermediate-term technical direction to the ACP organization
- Perform financial and performance analyses to develop and implement long-term staffing plans and process improvements
- Provide mentorship and growth opportunities to the ACP organization in order to grow a strong leadership bench
- Support the ACP Director in establishing a culture that values open communication, shared values, and a commitment to personal and professional growth
- Lead and staff a technically diverse team of engineers and managers while executing a baseline schedule and budget with earned value principles
Program Execution:
- Leading profit and loss for programs executing within the ACP portfolio
- Utilize earned value management and other financial tools to plan, execute, and report status against baseline budgets
- Support the integrated planning of complex interdependent projects to support ACP program milestones, balancing prioritization of Engineering resources between competing projects and teams
- Ensure schedules and program plans are credible, substantiated by quantitative data, and bound by risks and opportunities
- Support a comprehensive risk and opportunity management program for the ACP organization
- Ensure major subcontract partners execute their contractual obligations and meet program expectations for cost, schedule, and technical performance
- Ensuring program team understands and adheres to contract scope, and manages change through control board activities, and drives performance towards milestones
- Cultivating customer relationships and intimacy
Communication
- Negotiate competing priorities and interests across a wide range of internal and external stakeholder communities to pursue the best course of action for the ACP programs
- Establish and maintain strong relationships with a wide range of distinct customer communities, subcontractors, and industry partners
- Provide regular briefings, reports, and other communications to executive leadership
- Ensure consistency and effectiveness of external program communications, such as contracts letters; requests for information, quotes, or proposals (RFI, RFQ, RFP)
Technical Excellence:
- Ensure adherence to the ACP Product line technical baseline and associated processes for the organization
- Help lead the design and development of hardware and software system components based on system level allocations
- Balance quality standards for technical artifacts (e.g. Technical Data Packages, Product Data Packages) with the rapid pace of design and development of hardware and software, procurement, assembly, and integration of test assets and early prototypes
- Make informed decisions between conflicting technical approaches based upon programs cost, schedule, and technical impacts and risk
- May be required to travel up to 25% of the time
Our Leaders at Northrop Grumman live our values daily and encourage our teams to do the same. We do the right thing: upholding the highest ethical standards and facilitating a safe and respectful environment that attracts, retains, and inspires a diverse and engaged team. We do what we promise: holding yourself and others accountable to meet predictable and balanced results. We commit to shared success: operating as OneNG and removing barriers for our teams. Finally, We pioneer: setting a vision that shapes the future and inspires others.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree and 12 years of related experience supporting U.S. Government contracts and customers and/or project management in other industries, or Master’s degree and 10 years of related experience supporting U.S. Government contracts and customers and/or project management in other industries
- 5 years of previous program management experience leading large teams
- 3 years of experience with program execution for complex, geographically diverse program execution
- Experience leading the performance of tasks on schedule, at cost and achieving all requirements as either project lead, integrated program team or cost account manager
- Your ability to transfer and maintain the final adjudicated U.S. government Top Secret clearance (must be in-scope or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation) and any program access(es) required for the position within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Company
- Ability to obtain and maintain SCI
- Experience briefing Sector and Corporate Leaders
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) discipline or a Master of Science in a STEM discipline
- Active U.S. government Top Secret clearance with SCI
- Active SAP/SAR clearance(s)
- Experience with AFMCLC Programs and Leadership
- Experience developing and integrating components for autonomous aircraft and air dominance systems
- Experience with agile SW development principles, as applied to defense program execution
- Strong understanding and broad application of engineering systems (engineering standards, configuration management, material review board, process control, tooling, facilities, software, etc.)
- Strong oral and written communication skills, including demonstrated experience with high value customer presentations, with ability to focus on multiple projects with competing priorities
- Demonstrated experience in making sound decisions in uncertain and difficult situations
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree and 12 years related experience supporting U.S. Government contracts and/or project management, or Master's degree and 10 years
- 5 years previous program management experience leading large teams
- 3 years experience with program execution for complex, geographically diverse programs
- Experience leading performance to schedule, cost, and requirements as project lead, integrated program team, or cost account manager
- Ability to transfer and maintain final adjudicated U.S. government Top Secret clearance (in-scope or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation) and required program access
- Ability to obtain and maintain SCI
- Experience briefing Sector and Corporate Leaders
- U.S. Citizenship (required for positions with government clearance)
- Willingness/ability to travel up to 25% of the time
- Bachelor of Science or Master of Science in a STEM discipline
- Active U.S. government Top Secret clearance with SCI
- Active SAP/SAR clearance(s)
- Experience with AFMCLC programs and leadership
- Experience developing and integrating components for autonomous aircraft and air dominance systems
- Experience with agile software development principles applied to defense program execution
- Strong understanding and broad application of engineering systems (engineering standards, configuration management, material review board, process control, tooling, facilities, software, etc.)
- Strong oral and written communication skills, including high-value customer presentations
- Demonstrated experience making sound decisions in uncertain and difficult situations
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.







