Director of Engineering Strategy

Northrop Grumman•Linthicum Heights, MD

About The Position

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history. The Sector Engineering organization (formerly Strategy & Engineering Excellence [S&EE]) enables continuously improving engineering execution and deploys strategy in close partnership with division-aligned engineering teams. We are a trusted partner in Engineering Discipline Execution, Technology Leadership, Engineering Strategy, Technical Talent, and Advanced Analytics. We create and deliver on initiatives that need a broad sector approach and scale outcomes achieved within a division to the sector. We define and enable commonality in tools and processes. We merge insights across engineering and other functional areas, unify the broad engineering team, and act on near-, mid-, and long-term plans to achieve our strategy. The Director of Engineering Strategy is responsible for leading strategy development in line with the Engineering & Sciences (E&S) and Mission Systems sector's strategic objectives. This critical role requires extensive collaboration across a diverse group of sectors, division, internal stakeholders and external industry partners and is responsible for identifying and driving innovation to prepare E&S for the future. The preferred candidate will have a solid technical background, strategic mindset and ability to influence multiple levels of leadership and customers to drive cost, performance, schedule and improvement to innovate and execute engineering activities.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree with minimum of 10 years of experience, or a Master's degree with minimum 8 years of experience, or a PhD with minimum 6 years of experience in STEM related technical fields
A minimum of 5 years demonstrated success leading and managing diverse technical teams that work on large and/or complex systems with mechanical, electrical, and software elements.
Prior experience in strategy and/or market development
Experience working across multiple lines of business and functional disciplines (e.g. manufacturing, supply chain, business management, strategy & business development)
Experience with internal (internal to the corporation) projects
Technical experience in any combination of Systems, Software, Hardware, or Cybersecurity engineering with understanding of engineering processes
Demonstrated knowledge of engineering processes, engineering metrics, hiring, staffing, tools and training resources
Demonstrated ability to innovate and implement change while challenging traditional ways of doing business
Ability to operate independently based on strategic objectives, work in a team environment, and collaborate across the corporation as required to accomplish team goals
A broad skill set that is balanced between technical, interpersonal, and business capabilities
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
U.S. Citizenship is required.
A current/active DoW Secret Clearance is required; OR DoE Equivalent

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree(s) in STEM technical fields
Active DoW Top-Secret Clearance or higher and the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI and Special Access Clearance; OR DoE Equivalent
Program management experience, with profit and loss accountability - preferably leading large or complex programs
Prior experience in strategy and/or market development and driving engineering partnerships required
Technical experience in any combination of Systems, Software, Hardware, or Cybersecurity engineering within the defense or aerospace industries
Solid understanding of engineering process with execution experience, including working familiarity with ISO 9001, AS9100, and CMMI
Demonstrated ability to partner with other stakeholders to achieve an optimum balance between project-level execution and enterprise-level efficiencies that improve overall sector performance and competitiveness
Demonstrated success in championing change within the organization to achieve competitive advantage for the business
Experience leading geographically dispersed functional teams, including team members working remotely
Experience engaging with and briefing all levels of management - from CEO, to front-line leadership
Proven success in creating and executing affordability initiatives

Responsibilities

Drive E&S long term strategy by completing market assessments, technology roadmaps, and identification of opportunities in support of market strategy to support growth and profitability. Maintain 10-year pipeline roadmap, including emerging market opportunities and upcoming tool/system integration
Leads collaborative partnership endeavors with stakeholders across the Sector and company to understand key drivers to business success and enhance the probability of meeting E&S longer-term goals.
Defines, in strong collaboration with other groups, our engineering strategy including near-, mid-, and long-term actions necessary to achieve that strategy.
Develops coordinated efforts for new and emerging markets and collaborates with strategic investment to ensure the strategic plan has appropriate funding in place to support E&S and Mission System's goals.
Partners and collaborates with Strategy and Mission Solutions organizations to understand technical product roadmaps, customer mission needs, and other customer feedback to define and employ strategy
Partner with other industries and academia to understand current & future ways of doing business, performing engineering, and skillset development to inform our strategy
Partner with Chief Information and Digital Office (CIDO) to execute E&S Strategy, integrations and future technologies to build out engineering ecosystem
Implementing Mission Product Lifecycle Management (MPLM) infrastructure to enable digital thread
Prioritize Digital Transformation and AI Assistance to improve productivity and cycle times and for realized results
Develop plans (including targeted investment) for new tools and reduction of tools in our engineering lifecycle based on commonality, market research, collaboration with cross-sector organizations, and the needs of our organization.
Collaborate with CIDO on employment of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for business, engineering, and mission applications.
Support impact and growth in engineering for informed cost and performance decisions, ensuring seamless, data-driven optimization for scalable delivery across environments.
Provide leadership for the team's sector-wide strategic actions to improve engineering competitiveness and sustained growth through strong internal and external partners, aligned roadmaps and cross-functional partnerships, with reusable engineering assets and workflows enhancing efficiency and agility and cost.
Collaborate with CIDO on employment of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for business, engineering, and mission applications.
Identify future skills needed that strengthen E&S ability to be competitive, evolve technical skills and establish role-based development tracks aligned to the mission needs
Create & deploy targeted training & development aligned to critical skills and technical leadership needs
Ensure workforce is developing to execute engineering strategy and prepared for innovation

Benefits

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.
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.

Stand Out From the Crowd

Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.

Upload and Match Resume