2026 Flight Controller - Dulles VA
About The Position
Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector is hiring a Level 1 or Level 2 Flight Controller in Dulles, Virginia, to primarily support the Flight Dynamics team on the IceSat-2 mission. IceSat-2 measures the 3D elevation of Earth’s ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, forests, and water surfaces using laser technology to track changes over time. The position is 100% onsite and does not accommodate telecommuting. Travel is 10% of the time, and relocation assistance may be available. The Flight Controller provides mission operations support to satellite programs, including flight control. The role supports system maintenance and program milestones, collaborates on anomaly investigations, conducts simulator testing, develops operational products, monitors vehicle health, and tracks spacecraft configuration. It also includes reporting, process compliance, and communication with internal and external customers. Candidates must be willing and able to support a 24/7 environment. The position is offered at two levels: Associate Engineer, for candidates completing or holding a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field, and Engineer, for candidates completing or holding a master’s degree in a STEM field. The listed salary ranges are $69,400–$104,000 for Associate and $83,400–$125,200 for Engineer. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus. Benefits include health insurance, life and disability insurance, a savings plan, company-paid holidays, and paid time off.
Requirements
- For the Associate Engineer level: completing or completed a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, with a major in a STEM field.
- For the Engineer level: completing or completed a master’s degree from an accredited institution, with a major in a STEM field.
- Ability to work within a group of people with diverse backgrounds to achieve mission success.
- Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to make persuasive presentations to external customers at milestone reviews.
- Willingness and ability to support a 24/7 environment.
Nice To Haves
- Prior experience conducting on-orbit mission operations and resolving satellite and ground-system anomalies.
- Experience related to STK/ODTK.
- Experience writing technical documents for external customers.
- Leadership experience within a diverse team of engineers or operators.
Responsibilities
- Provide mission operations support to satellite programs, including flight control.
- Support system maintenance activities, including procedure updates, architecture upkeep, and formal program milestones.
- Work with systems engineers on anomaly review board investigations as necessary.
- Conduct testing using simulators and resolve discrepancies.
- Develop and test command procedures, telemetry pages, and other products based on vendor-provided documentation.
- Monitor vehicle state of health across all subsystems and conduct short- and long-term telemetry trending.
- Track space vehicle hardware, software, and configurable-item parameters.
- Modify existing operations procedures to incorporate lessons learned from in-flight performance and develop new procedures as needed.
- Provide status reporting through functional and program reporting branches.
- Maintain standards associated with established functional group processes.
- Support internal and external customer meetings with verbal and written communications, including presentations and documentation.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Benefits
- Health insurance coverage
- Life insurance
- Disability insurance
- Savings plan
- Company-paid holidays
- Paid time off for vacation and/or personal business
- Potential eligibility for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
