Sentinel Principal / Sr Principal Industrial Engineer - 17876

Northrop Grumman•Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA

2d•$103,600 - $193,900•Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems is hiring a Principal or Senior Principal Industrial Engineer to support Industrial Engineering activities for the Systems Test Team (STT) in Vandenberg, California. The role focuses on scheduling, manpower, facility layouts, capacity, manufacturing flows, performance metrics, and continuous improvement. The position calls for strategic thinking, data analysis, problem-solving, customer focus, communication skills, and a strong foundation in Industrial Engineering concepts. The successful candidate will track hardware deliveries and schedules, report status to leadership, develop and maintain daily SQDEC (Schedule, Quality, Delivery, Employee, Cost) boards, create standard-hour content, conduct shop-floor time studies, develop manufacturing waterfall schedules, and optimize shop-floor and facility layouts. The role also involves coordinating with implementation sites, suppliers, product teams, functional organizations, and colleagues across multiple locations; monitoring problems through resolution; and presenting technical briefings to management and technical leadership. The position requires an active DoD Secret clearance at application, U.S. citizenship, and the ability to obtain and maintain SAP approval. The standard schedule is 9/80: nine-hour days Monday through Thursday and every other Friday off. Travel is 10% of the time. Relocation assistance may be available.

Requirements

Principal level: 5 years of experience with a bachelor's degree in science, 3 years with a master's degree, or 1 year with a Ph.D.
Senior Principal level: 8 years of experience with a bachelor's degree in science, 6 years with a master's degree, or 4 years with a Ph.D.
Must be a U.S. citizen with an active DoD Secret clearance at the time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
Must be able to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) approval within a reasonable period, as determined by the company.
Working knowledge and understanding of Industrial Engineering concepts, including production intervals, cycle time, takt time, standard-hour content, time studies, EVMS, continuous improvement, scheduling, capacity analysis, and facility layouts.
Strong organizational, planning, and decision-making skills, with the ability to work as a team member and with people from different technical backgrounds.

Nice To Haves

Preferred degree in Industrial Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering, Operations Research, Data Analytics, or a related engineering field.
Experience in the aerospace and/or defense industry.
Experience working in the Engineering, Manufacturing, and Development (EMD) phase of a program.
Knowledge of SAP, MES, AutoCAD, and FlexSim or other discrete simulation programs and concepts.
Ability to create and automate Industrial Engineering performance metrics.
Experience with project management and manufacturing schedules.
Advanced skills with Microsoft Excel, Project, PowerPoint, and Visio.

Responsibilities

Track hardware deliveries and maintain detailed schedules and metrics to report status to upper leadership.
Develop and maintain daily SQDEC (Schedule, Quality, Delivery, Employee, Cost) boards with relevant metrics.
Apply Industrial Engineering concepts, including production intervals, cycle time, takt time, standard-hour content, time studies, EVMS, continuous improvement, scheduling, capacity analysis, and facility layouts.
Analyze capacity, including efficiencies, standards, and constraints.
Understand manufacturing flows and their interfaces with the shop floor and Global Supply Chain.
Develop labor standards and perform work measurement; create standard-hour content for new scope.
Conduct shop-floor time studies on manufacturing and test activities.
Work with functional teams to understand scheduling requirements at implementation sites.
Create detailed manufacturing waterfall schedules with setbacks to independent demands.
Use process-improvement methods such as value stream mapping, employee engagement techniques, and flow reduction.
Design and optimize shop-floor and facility layouts.
Apply cost-management principles, including Earned Value and milestone payments.
Conduct Manufacturing Readiness Assessments (MRAs) with suppliers.
Collaborate with product teams and functional organizations, from individual contributors to executive staff, to gather, understand, and interpret manufacturing facilitation and scheduling requirements.
Document, track, and monitor problems to support timely resolution.
Coordinate with larger teams at different site locations.
Create and present technical briefings for upper management and technical leadership.