Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Staff Mission Assurance Engineer (Lvl 5) to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position will be onsite in Melbourne, FL supporting a new program. You will directly support the Mission Assurance Program Manager (MAPM) by executing and overseeing quality first technical support, independent of Engineering, through early intervention. Support program and mission assurance teams during the Engineering Manufacture and Development (EMD) phase. This role will be operationally focused and drive collaborative efforts across various Integrated Product Teams (IPT), to include System Test, through team integration and involvement at the lowest to highest levels. Validate program objectives are being met through participation and oversight of task performance, historical data reviews, process reviews, inspection, auditing, testing and product evaluation. Deliver focused efforts in design, incoming material, production control, product evaluation and reliability, manufacturing, flight operations, research and development as they apply to the mission assurance statement of work. Evaluate and support corrective measures to ensure process revision meets acceptable reliability standards and that documentation is compliant with program requirements.
These functions will be supported through personal and team review of Supplier Data Requirements Lists (SDRL), Acceptance Test Procedures (ATP), Qualification Test Procedures (QTP), Supplier Statement of Work (SSOW), Program Specifications (PSPEC), etc. for compliance to requirements. When necessary, attend gateway events such as Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM), Integrated Review Board (IRB), Test Readiness Review (TRR), Critical Design Review (CDR), etc. Facilitate audits to identify quality related deficiencies, evaluate non-conformances, and negative performance trends and failures; lead root cause and corrective actions necessary to prevent a future reoccurrence. This position will require high level organizational skills to support concurrent taskings along with strong computer skills with a high level of proficiency in Design Tools, Atlassian Tools and Microsoft Office Suite.
Responsibilities:
- Personal and team engagement with design engineering team(s) to ensure requirements.
- Operational support and execution oversight via Supplier Management Teams, Subcontract Administrators, Supplier Quality, Quality Field Engineers, Responsible Engineers (RE), Test Engineers, Safety Engineers, Materials and Process Engineers, and Reliability Engineers to confirm compliance to quality standards and contractual requirements.
- Collaborate with inspection, software and supplier quality teams to drive quality into the design to ensure robust verification and validation processes.
- Track and Facilitate root cause and corrective action (RCCA) investigations to address non-conformances, ensuring effective resolution and continuous improvement.
- Track, oversee and process non-conformances from initiation through disposition, via collaboration with internal and external customers.
- Ensure delivery of fact based decision points to leadership through daily/weekly metrics and reviews.
- Study Failure Modes Effects and Analysis (FMEA) to plan and develop the required processes to identify potential product performance impacts as early as possible.
- Oversee product qualification and provide guidance when needed.
- Deliver product integration and testing oversight via manufacturing support, test procedure review, test witnessing, troubleshooting and buy off.
- Collaborate with manufacturing operations to ensure quality standards are in place.
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline with 12 Years experience in Engineering and/or quality background with heavy lab and testing environment support/oversight ; 10 Years with Masters; 8 Year with PhD
- Significant experience/knowledge in Design Engineering, Manufacturing, Nonconforming Material, Systems Engineering, and Requirements Development.
- High level knowledge in Risk Management processes and toolsets.
- Quality Assurance oversight experience with enforcement of AS9100 standards.
- Fluent in Agile, Lean Six Sigma and Root Cause Analysis
Preferred Qualifications:
- Active DoD Top Secret clearance (in-scope)
- Extensive experience engaging manufacturing on the shop floor to provide solutions
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in STEM with 12 years engineering or quality experience (10 years with Master's; 8 with PhD).
- Significant experience/knowledge in Design Engineering, Manufacturing, Nonconforming Material, Systems Engineering, and Requirements Development.
- High level knowledge in Risk Management processes and toolsets.
- Quality assurance oversight experience enforcing AS9100 standards.
- Fluency in Agile, Lean Six Sigma, and Root Cause Analysis methodologies.
- Experience with FMEA and planning processes to identify potential product impacts.
- Strong computer skills; high proficiency in Design Tools, Atlassian Tools, and Microsoft Office Suite.
- Ability to perform audits, inspections, testing oversight, and lead RCCA investigations.
- Willingness/ability to be onsite in Melbourne, FL and travel ~10%.
- Active DoD Top Secret clearance (preferred).
- Extensive hands-on experience engaging manufacturing on the shop floor (preferred).
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.







