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Northrop Grumman Defense Systems is seeking an On Target Effectiveness (OTE) Thread Lead – Senior Staff Systems Engineer (T06) to join the Sentinel Systems Engineering team in Roy, UT. The OTE Thread Lead owns the On Target Effectiveness thread for the Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program. The OTE thread focuses on the system level range, payload, and accuracy capabilities of the Sentinel weapon system, ensuring mission level effectiveness objectives are met across the full operational envelope. This role offers a clear path to senior technical leadership within the Sentinel program. This highly visible role works directly with the U.S. Air Force and with engineering and test teams across the Sentinel enterprise. The incumbent serves as the delegated technical owner for the OTE thread and its technical baseline, working in close collaboration with Systems Engineering, Integration & Test (SEIT) leadership and the Office of the Chief Engineer (OCE).
Key Responsibilities:
As the OTE Thread Lead, you will:
Technical ownership & stakeholder coordination
Serve as the subject matter expert and primary technical point of contact for the On Target Effectiveness thread.
Take end to end ownership of the OTE thread’s requirements, architecture, analysis, and verification baseline, ensuring consistency, traceability, and technical integrity while remaining open to challenge and alternative viewpoints.
Collaborate with SEIT leadership and the OCE to propose and implement changes to the OTE baseline within the overall program technical framework.
Engage regularly with OCE, U.S. Air Force counterparts, the Thread Lead Manager (TLM), and other thread leads to share status, resolve issues, and align technical direction and staffing
Systems engineering leadership
Lead and direct requirements analysis and decomposition for OTE, from weapon system level requirements through segment and lower level specifications, including allocation of performance budgets for range, payload, and accuracy.
Guide and approve OTE related architectures and interfaces, ensuring error and performance budgets are correctly allocated across segments and support system level effectiveness.
Oversee the development and use of mission level functional flows and scenarios to assess on target performance and mission success.
Lead cross discipline trade studies that balance cost, schedule, risk, and mission effectiveness, and present clear, data driven recommendations to program leadership and the OCE
Verification, validation, integration & test
Define the verification strategy and success criteria for OTE related requirements, including appropriate use of analysis, test, inspection, and demonstration.
Review and approve OTE related verification plans and reports, ensuring traceability from requirements to verification methods, test configurations, and results.
Provide technical direction to integration and test teams on the events, configurations, and data needed to substantiate OTE performance.
Maintain thread level insight into verification results and open items through requirement sell off and program reviews
Risk, performance, integration, and mentoring
Support risk, opportunity, and performance management for the OTE thread
Identify and document OTE related risks, issues, and opportunities, and provide the OTE technical input into the program RIO process for identification, prioritization, and mitigation/execution planning, with clear linkage to OTE requirements and performance budgets.
Define and maintain Technical Performance Measures (TPMs) relevant to on target effectiveness (e.g., accuracy, range, payload, reliability/availability), including thresholds and margins, and lead TPM assessments and return to green actions when performance margins or trends indicate elevated risk.
Drive integration and represent OTE at reviews
Organize and lead coordination sessions to maintain horizontal and vertical integration of OTE content across segments and disciplines.
Serve as the buyer for OTE related content at segment level design reviews (e.g., CDRs) and the seller at program level reviews (e.g., SRR, CDR and other milestones).
Provide clear, technically grounded briefings that articulate OTE drivers, assumptions, margins, and risk posture.
Demonstrate strong executive presence in interactions with senior Northrop Grumman and U.S. Air Force leadership, advocating clearly for OTE positions while listening and adapting based on data and stakeholder feedback.
Mentor and develop OTE focused engineering talent
Mentor junior and mid level engineers in the OTE domain through coaching and knowledge transfer.
Promote effective use of model based systems engineering and mission effectiveness analysis tools to strengthen technical rigor, traceability, and decision quality.
Basic Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field and 14+ years of relevant experience, or Master’s degree and 12+ years of relevant experience, or PhD and 10+ years of relevant experience.
Active DoD Secret clearance at time of application, with ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) approval.
4+ years supporting ICBM programs (MMIII or Sentinel) or other complex aerospace/defense systems.
2+ years creating and maintaining system performance or mission effectiveness documentation (e.g., performance budgets, analysis reports, effectiveness assessments).
Demonstrated systems engineering experience in requirements, architecture, integration, and verification/validation for complex systems.
3+ years leading engineering teams or cross IPT efforts with clear end to end ownership of technical scope and outcomes, including regular interaction with senior program or customer leadership.
Preferred Qualifications:
Clearance - Active DoD Top Secret clearance (or ability to obtain) with SAP eligibility.
Experience on large, complex system developments across multiple phases (design, integration & test, verification & sell off, transition to production)
Proven ability to meet technical, cost, and schedule commitments
Experience with weapon system or mission level effectiveness analysis (e.g., probability of kill/mission success, engagement analysis, accuracy/error budgets, reliability/availability).
Proficiency with MBSE and requirements tools (e.g., DOORS for requirements, Cameo/MagicDraw for architecture and verification).
Familiarity with modeling & simulation and data analysis tools used for mission effectiveness and performance assessments.
Demonstrated executive presence and communication skills, including experience leading or presenting at major technical reviews and clearly explaining performance and effectiveness tradeoffs to senior leadership and customers.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple efforts and priorities while maintaining strong cross IPT and customer relationships.
As a full-time employee of Northrop Grumman, you are eligible for our robust benefits package including:
- Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
- 401k
- Educational Assistance
- Life Insurance
- Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions
- Paid Time Off
- Health & Wellness Resources
- Employee Discounts
This position’s standard work schedule is 9/80. The 9/80 schedule allows employees who work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday to take every other Friday off.
#SentinelSystems
Primary Level Salary Range: $166,500.00 - $249,700.00The 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 in a STEM field and 14 or more years of relevant experience, or a master's degree and 12 or more years, or a PhD and 10 or more years
- Active Department of Defense Secret clearance at the time of application
- Ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program approval
- At least 4 years supporting ICBM programs such as MMIII or Sentinel, or other complex aerospace and defense systems
- At least 2 years creating and maintaining system performance or mission effectiveness documentation
- Systems engineering experience in requirements, architecture, integration, and verification and validation for complex systems
- At least 3 years leading engineering teams or cross-integrated product team efforts with end-to-end technical ownership and senior leadership interaction
- Active Department of Defense Top Secret clearance or ability to obtain it, with Special Access Program eligibility
- Experience with large, complex system development across design, integration and test, verification and sell-off, and transition to production
- Ability to meet technical, cost, and schedule commitments
- Experience with weapon system or mission-level effectiveness analysis, including probability of kill, mission success, engagement analysis, accuracy or error budgets, and reliability or availability
- Proficiency with Model-Based Systems Engineering and requirements tools such as DOORS and Cameo or MagicDraw
- Familiarity with modeling, simulation, and data analysis tools used for mission effectiveness and performance assessments
- Executive presence and communication skills, including leading or presenting at major technical reviews
- Ability to manage multiple efforts and priorities while maintaining cross-integrated product team and customer relationships
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.
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