Expand your horizons, advance your career, and contribute to a secure future for generations. Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector invites you to bring your pioneering spirit to our collaborative teams. As a Sr. Principal Data Scientist – Level 4 located in Magna, UT you’ll be a linchpin in missions of paramount importance, defining the art of the possible from day one.
The Sr. Principal Data Scientist 4 applies reliability, statistics, and data science expertise to solid rocket motor hardware design, production, test, and sustainment. This is a highly versatile technical position, requiring strong primary collaboration with engineering, as well as work in partnership with quality, operations, supply chain, program management, and business management. The successful candidate blends knowledge of probabilistic statistics and uncertainty estimation methods with knowledge of solid rocket motor products and processes.
This position will work a 9/80 schedule, with every other Friday off.
Job responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Partner with systems and design engineering to develop failure modes and effects, develop data supporting estimated variability and probabilities of failure for each component, model and analyze reliability for the entire system
- Partner with process and quality to develop estimates of manufacturing variability, capabilities, inspection, and statistical process controls
- Support manufacturing defect reduction and improvement initiatives
- Develop models and maintain data for material properties used in design based on characterization and acceptance testing
- Design, analyze and interpret data from various performance tests on solid rocket motor systems
- Develop models, databases, and provide annual reports monitoring aging trends, service life estimates, and support sustainment activities for fielded hardware
- Develop and utilize predictive cost models for products and programs
- Develop technology roadmaps and support development of new tools
- Other duties as assigned
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Data Science, Engineering or other quantitative field (Mathematics, Industrial Math, Reliability Engineering) with 8 years of professional experience – OR – Master’s degree in Statistics, Data Science, Engineering or other quantitative field (Mathematics, Industrial Math, Reliability Engineering) with 6 years of professional experience – OR – PhD with 4 years of professional experience.
- Must have a current, active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at the time of application.
- Basic knowledge of solid rocket motor components, functions, and manufacturing processes. Other practical experience with complex systems may be considered.
- Knowledge of systems reliability, probabilistic and Bayesian uncertainty quantification statistical methods
- Experience with Rstudio, Statistica, or other similar statistics software
- Ability to learn how to apply statistics and data science in novel applications
- Excellent teamwork skills, collaborating with cross-functional teams in highly interdependent environment
- Excellent organization, time management, and communication skills
- Entrepreneurial drive to proactively identify opportunities and develop solutions
- Desire to work with hardware and support a production environment
Preferred Qualifications:
• Dual-degree, MS degree or other advanced training and certification preferred.
Curious about all the exciting developments with the Northrop Grumman Space Sector? Click the link below:
https://www.northropgrumman.com/space
Working at Northrop Grumman is more than just a paycheck. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive at work and in life. For more information on our Total Rewards package, please visit our Total Rewards site.
Northrop Grumman Total Rewards
Primary Level Salary Range: $135,000.00 - $202,600.00The 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 Statistics, Data Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Industrial Mathematics, Reliability Engineering, or another quantitative field with 8 years of professional experience; or master’s degree with 6 years; or PhD with 4 years.
- Current, active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at the time of application.
- Basic knowledge of solid rocket motor components, functions, and manufacturing processes, or practical experience with complex systems.
- Knowledge of systems reliability, probabilistic methods, and Bayesian uncertainty quantification.
- Experience with RStudio, Statistica, or similar statistics software.
- Ability to apply statistics and data science to novel applications.
- Excellent teamwork and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Excellent organization, time management, and communication skills.
- Entrepreneurial drive to identify opportunities and develop solutions proactively.
- Desire to work with hardware and support a production environment.
- Dual degree, master’s degree, or other advanced training and certification.
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.
-
Healthcare Strength — Health coverage offers multiple medical plan options by region alongside dental, vision, mental‑health resources, and wellness programs. Recent materials also highlight added family‑building support, including a dedicated fertility benefit.
-
Retirement Support — The 401(k) savings plan is positioned as competitive with a company match, auto‑escalation features, and access to an employee stock fund/ESPP. Official filings and benefits guides emphasize retirement as a core element of the Total Rewards package.
-
Leave & Time Off Breadth — Many sites offer a 9/80 schedule, generous PTO, paid holidays, and flexible/telework options where program needs allow. Paid parental and caregiver leave are prominently featured, with recent enhancements for the delivering parent.
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.








