Northrop Grumman Mission Systems Sector is seeking a Supplier Performance Management (SPM) Manager 3 to join the Mission Systems(MS) sector’s Supplier Performance Management (SPM) team located in either ,Linthicum, MD, Rolling Meadows, IL or San Diego or Woodland Hills, CA.
This position will lead the field engineering team and report to the MS SPM Global Supply Chain (GSC) Director. This team is responsible for conducting audits, source inspections, and assisting suppliers to resolve quality issues.
Qualified candidates will have demonstrated success leading broad organizational changes within cost and schedule while achieving internal customer expectations and focusing on organizational and team success. The position requires a solution-based orientation, unwavering ethics and values, and the demonstrated ability to be a trusted partner.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Engage in Program Capture and Kickoff activities to identify and quantify supplier quality risk in program sourcing plans, influence sourcing strategy to include capable suppliers and to identify risk mitigation strategies to minimize impact of poor supplier quality.
- Collaborate with Program Quality to ensure appropriate quality requirements for programs are identified and flowed down to suppliers via purchasing documents.
- Coordinate with Program Quality to ensure that program risk mitigation strategies are executed in conjunction with key program schedule milestones.
- Collaborate with Quality management, GSC, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Program Management organizations to identify and understand supplier quality issues identified in receiving inspection and on the factory floor.
- Collaborate with all stakeholders to drive suppliers to sustained Root Cause & Corrective Action.
- Work with program personnel to ensure adequate funding is identified for Supplier Quality risk mitigation and product validation activities; monitor Supplier Quality team activities to ensure consistency with the spending plan.
- Frequently interface with division/ sector / supplier executives and customer representatives concerning supplier quality risks, mitigation plans, and issue resolution.
- Support the efficient and effective execution of First Article Inspections and source inspection as well as providing technical troubleshooting across a diverse slate of commodities.
- Use data-driven processes to measure supplier quality performance, mitigation of risk, and to lead continuous improvement processes at suppliers by building and maintaining trusted partnerships.
- Support the creation and maintenance of supplier management plans.
- Establish and monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to identify and pursue systemic improvement opportunities.
- Promote the professional development of the SPM team and foster a collaborative culture that sustains the momentum around employee engagement and inclusion, affordability, innovation, value growth, and continuous improvement.
- Provide clear assignments, help employees connect their efforts to the bigger picture, create an inclusive work environment characterized by mutual respect and the valuing of differences, and build a culture that motivates employees to their highest levels of performance.
- Excellent communication and problem-solving skills.
- Travel up to 20% of the time.
#MPR
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree and a minimum of 8 years in Program or Project Management, Quality, Mission Assurance, Manufacturing, Global Supply Chain, Operations, Business Management, or Engineering.
- 5+ years of experience managing people and/or leading teams of people
- Experience in program/product lifecycle in the areas of supply chain management, receiving operations, inventory control, production control, product test & evaluation, root cause analysis, product sell-off, shipping, and product support as they apply to quality.
- Ability to obtain government Secret clearance
- U.S. citizenship
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with ISO 9001 / AS9100 Quality Management System certification process.
- Master’s degree in an engineering or management field.
- Defense Industry experience as a Program or Project Manager, Quality Manager, Supplier Quality Manager, Supply Chain Manager, Engineering Manager, or Manufacturing Management
- Lean / Six Sigma Green or Black Belt certification to drive continuous improvement.
- Experience working root cause/corrective actions within an industry framework such as 8D.
- Experience with reading interpreting contractual requirements
- Current, active clearance above Secret, or ability to acquire a Department of Defense Top Secret clearance.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree
- Minimum 8 years of experience in program or project management, quality, mission assurance, manufacturing, global supply chain, operations, business management, or engineering
- At least 5 years of experience managing people or leading teams
- Experience with program or product lifecycle activities involving supply chain management, receiving operations, inventory control, production control, product testing and evaluation, root cause analysis, product sell-off, shipping, and product support as applied to quality
- Ability to obtain a government Secret clearance
- U.S. citizenship
- Experience with ISO 9001 or AS9100 Quality Management System certification processes
- Master's degree in engineering or management
- Defense industry experience as a program or project manager, quality manager, supplier quality manager, supply chain manager, engineering manager, or manufacturing manager
- Lean or Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification
- Experience performing root cause and corrective actions using an industry framework such as 8D
- Experience reading and interpreting contractual requirements
- Current active clearance above Secret or ability to acquire a Department of Defense Top Secret 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
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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.






