Join Northrop Grumman on our continued mission to push the boundaries of possible across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Enjoy a culture where your voice is valued and start contributing to our team of passionate professionals providing real-life solutions to our world’s biggest challenges. We take pride in creating purposeful work and allowing our employees to grow and achieve their goals every day by Defining Possible. With our competitive pay and comprehensive benefits, we have the right opportunities to fit your life and launch your career today.
Northrop Grumman Defense System has an opening for an Operations Project Manager (OPM) to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Advanced Weapons (AW) business unit. This leadership role located in Ridgecrest, CA.
The OPM must be a self-starter, self-motivated individual who can work in a fast-paced environment.
The responsibilities of an OPM include:
- Managing and maintaining the day-to-day interfaces and communications between the assigned Program Management Office (PMO), Manufacturing, Test, Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Mission Assurance (MA), Supply Chain (SCM), Engineering, and Shipping.
- Achieving targeted cost and schedule requirements.
- Facilitating internal meetings in a way to support design, production, and problem resolutions.
- Reporting Earned Value Management System (EVMS) and serving as the Cost Account Management (CAM) for manufacturing projects.
- Leading or participating on a product team, responsible for product-level requirements analysis, engineering and manufacturing of the products assigned, product tracking, and product visibility.
- Representing manufacturing at the program Risk Review Board (RRB) meetings and creating / managing any applicable manufacturing risks and/or opportunities from the program risk register.
- Supporting and generating proposal documentation as needed to foster new work.
This is not a Manager role. This is an individual contributor role.
Basic Qualifications for a Level 3 OPM:
- Bachelor's degree and 5 years of relevant work experience or 3 years of experience with an MS degree. 9 years of experience may be applied in lieu of a formal degree
- The candidate must have experience in leadership and project management.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Security Clearance per business requirements (US citizenship required)
- Experience with Cost Point or other Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and MS Office applications including Excel, Word, Project, and Power Point
Preferred Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Business Management
- Experience with cost, schedule, project leadership, and/or process improvement
- Manufacturing or Engineering experience
- Experience with bases of estimates, shop order creation, and Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS)
- Active Secret clearance
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree and 5 years of relevant work experience (or MS + 3 years), or 9 years' experience in lieu of degree
- Experience in leadership and project management
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance (U.S. citizenship required)
- Experience with Costpoint or other ERP systems and Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Project, PowerPoint)
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Business Management
- Experience with cost, schedule, project leadership, and/or process improvement
- Manufacturing or Engineering experience
- Experience with bases of estimates, shop order creation, and Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS)
- Active 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
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.








