If forging a secure future excites you, look no further! Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector provides an arena where your passion for innovation and quest for exploration are welcome. As a GNC Engineer/Scrum Master – Level 2 or Level 3 your role at Chandler, AZ will be pivotal in supporting missions critical to national and global security. This position is 100% onsite and cannot accommodate telecommute work.
Ready to join forces with our visionary team?
Our GNC (Guidance, Navigation, and Control) Engineers design, develop, implement, verify and test algorithms and software and simulation tools to perform guidance, navigation and control of missiles, launch vehicles and upper stages powered and coast phases of launch, flight, earth orbit, interplanetary cruise and orbital insertion, as well as during staging events.
This position will work a 9/80 schedule, with every other Friday off.
Your mission, should you choose to accept:
- In this role, you will be responsible for GNC modeling, simulation, and analysis, as well as Scrum Master duties, such as facilitating stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives, and improving Agile practices within the development lifecycle.
- Design, develop, implement, verify, and test high‑quality software and simulation toolchains for flight systems.
- Develop and integrate autopilot and guidance algorithms directly into flight software, collaborating with software and hardware teams.
- Generate, analyze, and interpret vehicle trajectories using trajectory‑optimization tools.
- Modify or create new scripts (e.g., Python, MATLAB, Bash) to capture customer requirements and evaluate vehicle performance.
- Build, validate, and maintain accurate modeling and simulation frameworks for aerospace systems and components.
- Enhance simulation fidelity by applying advanced modeling techniques to support analysis and decision‑making.
- Conduct rigorous testing to identify and resolve discrepancies between simulation and real-world performance metrics.
- Gather, process, and analyze large data sets to verify and validate system performance results.
- Ensure simulation outputs align with system specifications and performance targets.
- 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 2 or Level 3.
Basic Qualifications for Level 2:
- Bachelor’s degree with 2 years of professional experience – OR – Master’s degree with 0 years of professional experience. Will consider an additional 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance
- Proficiency in object-oriented programming, especially C++, and scripting languages such as Python, MATLAB, and Bash.
- Experience with simulation development and toolchains.
- Strong background in Agile methodologies with experience as a Scrum Master or Agile Facilitator.
- Familiarity with Scrum practices.
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.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance
- Proficiency in object-oriented programming, especially C++, and scripting languages such as Python, MATLAB, and Bash.
- Experience with simulation development and toolchains.
- Strong background in Agile methodologies with experience as a Scrum Master or Agile Facilitator.
- Familiarity with Scrum practices.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC): Experience working with GNC algorithms and running 6DOF/3DOF simulations on HPC clusters to model vehicle trajectory and performance.
- CI/CD Pipelines: Ability to create and automate simulation runs and post-processing workflows.
- High-Performance Computing (HPC): Proficiency with job schedulers like SLURM or PBS.
- Certifications: Agile Certification.
- Security Clearance: Active DoD Secret security clearance.
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
Primary Level Salary Range: $79,300.00 - $118,900.00Secondary Level Salary Range: $98,400.00 - $147,600.00The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree with 2 years of professional experience OR Master's degree with 0 years. (Level 2) Will consider 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree.
- Bachelor's degree with 5 years of professional experience OR Master's degree with 3 years OR PhD with 1 year. Will consider 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree. (Level 3)
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance
- Proficiency in object-oriented programming, especially C++
- Proficiency in scripting languages: Python, MATLAB, Bash
- Experience with simulation development and toolchains
- Strong background in Agile methodologies with experience as a Scrum Master or Agile Facilitator; familiarity with Scrum practices
- Position is 100% onsite in Chandler, AZ (no telecommute)
- Experience with GNC algorithms and running 6DOF/3DOF simulations on HPC clusters
- Ability to create and automate CI/CD pipelines for simulation runs and post-processing workflows
- Proficiency with HPC job schedulers such as SLURM or PBS
- Agile certification
- Active DoD Secret security clearance
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.







