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 Director – Level 3 or Level 4 located in Colorado Springs, CO, you’ll be a linchpin in missions of paramount importance, defining the art of the possible from day one. This position is 100% onsite and cannot accommodate telecommute work.
Job responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
Leading a diverse team of operators
Providing mission operations support to NGSS Satellite programs.
Work with systems engineers to develop operational documentation for use during on-orbit checkout and commissioning of satellites.
Conducting testing using simulators and resolving discrepancies.
Developing and test command procedures, telemetry pages, and other products derived from vendor provided documentation
Developing test procedures and test execution for system level, end-to-end tests with the spacecraft.
Supporting mission readiness activities including mission rehearsals, mission timeline development, and post launch test development.
Monitoring vehicle state of health across all subsystems.
Performing short and long-term telemetry trending.
Tracking space vehicle configuration, to include both hardware, software, and configurable item parameters.
Supporting anomaly resolution efforts.
Making modifications to existing operations procedures to incorporate lessons learned from in-flight performance. Develop new procedures as required.
Providing status reporting through both the functional and program reporting branches.
Providing support to multiple programs.
Maintaining standards associated with the established Integrated/Developmental Operations functional group processes.
Providing mentoring and guidance to the mission operations team.
Supporting internal and external customer meetings through proficient verbal and documented (MS PowerPoint, MS Word, MS Excel) communications.
Other duties as assigned
If this job description reads like it was written specifically for you, consider joining our team!
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.
This position can be filled at either a Level 3 or Level 4.
Basic Qualifications for Level 3:
Bachelor’s degree with 5 years of professional experience – OR – Master’s degree with 3 years of professional experience – OR – PhD with 1 year of professional experience. Will consider an additional 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree.
Requires an active Top-Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) clearance at time of application
Ability to work within, task, and manage a group of diversified individuals with varying backgrounds to achieve mission success.
Experience conducting on-orbit mission operations and resolving satellite and ground system anomalies
Experience with at least one S/C Subsystem (ADCS, CDH, COMM, EPDS, Thermal, FSW).
Experience in ground system update and/or maintenance
Willingness and ability to support a 24/7 environment while working day/night 12hr shifts
Basic Qualifications for Level 4:
Bachelor’s degree with 8 years of professional experience – OR – Master’s degree with 6 years of professional experience – OR – PhD with 4 years of professional experience. Will consider an additional 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree.
Requires an active Top-Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) clearance at time of application
Ability to work within, task, and manage a group of diversified individuals with varying backgrounds to achieve mission success.
Experience conducting on-orbit mission operations and resolving satellite and ground system anomalies
Experience with at least one S/C Subsystem (ADCS, CDH, COMM, EPDS, Thermal, FSW).
Experience in ground system update and/or maintenance
Willingness and ability to support a 24/7 environment while working day/night 12hr shifts
Preferred Qualifications:
Support of readiness activities to include; Mission Readiness Tests (MRTs), Mission Rehearsals (MRs), Day In The Life (DITL) and daily operations testing.
Experience with Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPOD) systems
Experience working on government systems and/or government process environment
Prior experience with virtualized deployment of LINUX based ground control software onto a ground system infrastructure
Experience with MAESTRO or RAPTOR command and control software
Familiarity with setting up and creating training and certification program for operators
Curious about all the exciting developments with the Northrop Grumman Space Sector? Click the link below:
https://www.northropgrumman.com/space
Working at Northrop Grumman is more than just a paycheck. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive at work and in life. For more information on our Total Rewards package, please visit our Total Rewards site.
Northrop Grumman Total Rewards
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree with 5 years (Level 3) or 8 years (Level 4) professional experience, or equivalent advanced degree/experience
- Active Top-Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) clearance at time of application
- Experience conducting on-orbit mission operations and resolving satellite and ground system anomalies
- Experience with at least one spacecraft subsystem (ADCS, CDH, COMM, EPDS, Thermal, FSW)
- Experience in ground system update and/or maintenance
- Willingness and ability to support a 24/7 environment while working day/night 12-hour shifts
- Ability to lead, task, and manage a diverse team of operators
- Ability to produce clear documentation and presentations (MS PowerPoint, MS Word, MS Excel)
- Position is 100% onsite in Colorado Springs and cannot accommodate telecommute work
- U.S. Citizenship (required for positions with government clearance)
- Support of readiness activities (MRTs, MRs, DITL) and mission rehearsals
- Experience with Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPOD) systems
- Prior experience with virtualized deployment of Linux-based ground control software
- Experience with MAESTRO or RAPTOR command and control software
- Familiarity with creating operator training and certification programs
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.








