Northrop Grumman's Manufacturing Operations Engineering organization is seeking a Principal/Senior Principal Manufacturing Project Engineer 3/4 for the Advanced Interconnects and Multi-layer Solutions (AIMS) cell. This position is located at our site near BWI Airport in Maryland.
The Manufacturing Systems Project Engineer will be responsible for a product line, or group of product lines, moving through their respective areas.
Responsibilities include:
- act as the main point of contact for all manufacturing engineering related activities for your product within the cell
- monitor product performance, quality, delivery, and cost metrics; highlight detractors and gather resources to resolve them
- collaborate closely with your process engineering peers as well as multiple other functional groups supporting shop floor, program office, and customer (quality engineering, manufacturing supervision, production, operations, design engineering, program management)
- drive root cause corrective action efforts
- identify continuous improvement opportunities; create solutions and lobby for funding
- review and handle product on the shop floor
- lead communications outward from the shop floor, through yield meetings, situations reports, problem resolution charts, etc.
- gather and document efforts for non-recurring cost for initial product startup as well as support manufacturing readiness reviews
- coordinate between non-deliverable hardware requestor and manufacturing operations/engineering
This position can be filled at either a level 3 or level 4.
Basic Qualifications level 3:
- For Principal Manufacturing Project Engineer: Bachelor of Science degree or higher in Engineering or related STEM area and 5+ years of relevant professional experience or 3+ years with an MS Degree.
- Experience in a manufacturing environment
- Experience managing or leading projects and/or people
- Familiarity with Design of Experiment (DOE), Statistical Process Control (SPC), and 6 sigma concepts for process development
- Knowledge of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T)
- Fluency in MS Office software applications
- Ability to obtain and maintain a US Secret Security Clearance.
- US Citizenship is required.
Basic Qualification level 4:
- For Senior Principal Manufacturing Project Engineer: Bachelor of Science degree or higher in Engineering or related STEM area and 8+ years of relevant professional experience or 6+ years with an MS degree.
- Experience in a manufacturing environment
- Experience managing or leading projects and/or people
- Familiarity with Design of Experiment (DOE), Statistical Process Control (SPC), and 6 sigma concepts for process development
- Knowledge of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T)
- Fluency in MS Office software applications
- Ability to obtain and maintain a US Secret Security Clearance.
- US Citizenship is required.
Preferred Qualifications:
- PCB manufacturing experience
- Familiarity with J-STD and MIL-STD requirements, including MIL-STD-883 & MIL-PRF-38534, J-STD-001, IPC-610
- Experience with Configuration Management and Manufacturing Process Planning
Skills Required
- Bachelor of Science degree or higher in Engineering or related STEM area
- 5+ years relevant experience (Principal) or 8+ years relevant experience (Senior Principal); alternative: 3+ years with MS (Principal) or 6+ years with MS (Senior Principal)
- Experience in a manufacturing environment
- Experience managing or leading projects and/or people
- Familiarity with Design of Experiment (DOE), Statistical Process Control (SPC), and Six Sigma concepts
- Knowledge of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T)
- Fluency in MS Office software applications
- Ability to obtain and maintain a US Secret Security Clearance
- US Citizenship
- PCB manufacturing experience
- Familiarity with J-STD, MIL-STD-883, MIL-PRF-38534, J-STD-001, IPC-610
- Experience with Configuration Management and Manufacturing Process Planning
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.







