Northrop Grumman Defense Systems is currently seeking a Principal or Senior Principal Contracts Administrator to work onsite at our Plymouth, MN location; will interface with all levels of senior management and customer counterparts, including program managers, business managers, capture managers, pricing, and proposal teams, to perform the following contract administration responsibilities:
- Conduct proposal preparation, contract negotiations, contract administration, and customer contact activities to provide for proper contract acquisition and fulfillment in accordance with company policies, legal requirements, and customer specifications.
- Examine project costs, performance requirements, and delivery schedules to ensure accuracy and completeness.
- Take an active role in proposal support; managing contract proposal volumes, supporting fact finding and the negotiation process to ensure proposals are fully responsive to prospective customer requirements.
- Perform risk assessment of proposals and contracts terms and conditions and assist program office in development of risk mitigation strategies
- Develop and process contract and subcontract sign-off packages, managing the approval process for proposals, contracts and modifications
- Ensure contract performance in accordance with company policies/procedures and legal requirements, including International Traffic And Arms (ITAR), Risk Work Authorizations (RWA's), ERP, Data Requests, Property Requests, Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI), Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDA's)
- Understand, assess, and evaluate contract provisions, clauses, regulations (including FARs and DFAR clauses), flow-downs and subcontract requirements
- Maintain official program records, including contractual documents and correspondence with customer
- Advise management of contractual rights and obligations and, as needed, provide interpretation of terms and conditions.
A successful candidate must:
- Be organized and detail oriented
- Be able to deal effectively with competing priorities and deadlines, and able to handle multiple tasks in a fast paced environment.
- Be a team player, yet also be an independent & proactive contributor, with excellent problem solving and organizational skills
- Have strong customer orientation and relationship building abilities.
- Be familiar with USG and international (FMS, DCS) contracting, and able to execute those activities at a high level with little or no supervision
- Possess excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to use them in informing, presenting, negotiating, and problem solving.
This position may be filled at a higher level depending on education and/or years of experience.
Basic Qualifications for Principal Contracts Administrator:
- Bachelors with 6 years contracts or business management experience; 3 Years with Masters; 1 Year with PhD
- Experience working proposals
- Experience organizing and administering contracts
- Experience reviewing, applying, and analyzing rules, policies, and regulations
- Negotiation experience
- Be able to occasionally travel to customer locations for negotiations or meetings
Basic Qualifications for Sr. Principal Contracts Administrator:
- Bachelors with at least 10 years of contracts and/or business management experience; 6 Years with Masters; 4 Years with PhD Includes all of the above .
- Experience working proposals
- Experience organizing and administering contracts
- Experience reviewing, applying, and analyzing rules, policies, and regulations
- Negotiation experience
- Be able to occasionally travel to customer locations for negotiations or meetings
Preferred Qualifications:
- Degree in Economics, Business, Engineering, Law or related field
- Willing to obtain & maintain a DoD security clearance (US Citizenship Required)
- Government acquisition contracting background
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree with 6 years contracts or business management experience (or 3 years with Masters; 1 year with PhD)
- For Sr. Principal: Bachelor's with at least 10 years contracts/business management experience (6 years with Masters; 4 years with PhD)
- Experience working proposals and providing proposal support
- Experience organizing and administering contracts
- Experience reviewing, applying, and analyzing rules, policies, and regulations (including FAR/DFARS)
- Negotiation experience
- Familiarity with USG and international contracting (FMS, DCS) and ability to execute with little supervision
- Knowledge of ITAR, Risk Work Authorizations (RWA), ERP processes, property requests, OCI, and CDAs
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including presenting and negotiating
- Organized, detail oriented, able to manage competing priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment
- Ability to travel occasionally (approximately 10%) for customer negotiations or meetings
- Degree in Economics, Business, Engineering, Law or related field
- Willingness to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance (US Citizenship required)
- Government acquisition contracting background
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.








