Manager Programs 2 - Advanced Design and Producibility

Northrop Grumman•Redondo Beach, CA

21d•$161,100 - $241,700•Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is seeking an Advanced Design and Producibility Manager 2 to support Research & Advanced Design survivability programs by bringing manufacturing strategy, producibility, affordability, and business-case realism into early survivability technology development and system design. This position will be located in our Redondo Beach, CA office and cannot be performed remotely. The selected candidate will influence early design decisions, define manufacturing strategies, evaluate producibility and affordability trades, support proposal development, and ensure proposed designs are aligned with credible build, integration, test, cost, schedule, and production-transition approaches. This role requires a leader who can operate at the intersection of engineering execution and business strategy, with the ability to understand advanced technical concepts, challenge design assumptions, assess manufacturing feasibility, evaluate cost and rate drivers, and help shape proposals that are technically credible, producible, affordable, and executable. The position is intended to ensure manufacturing is considered as a design variable rather than a downstream implementation activity, leveraging prior experience across aerospace system development, aircraft hardware design and analysis, survivability design integration, manufacturing strategy, production readiness, proposal support, business-case development, and cross-functional technical leadership. Serving as a technical bridge between concept development and program execution, the selected candidate will ensure that manufacturing capability, production strategy, affordability, and execution risk are considered alongside performance throughout the design process.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM discipline and 9 years of relevant experience; or a Master of Science degree in a STEM discipline and 7 years of relevant experience; or PhD with 4 years of relevant experience
Active U.S. government Secret clearance
Experience leading technical teams, IPTs, cross-functional teams, or matrixed engineering/manufacturing organizations
Experience supporting air vehicle or missile with survivability requirements through design, integration, manufacturing planning, production readiness, proposal development, or transition to execution
Demonstrated experience influencing system, subsystem, or assembly design decisions to improve producibility, affordability, manufacturability, assembly efficiency, testability, production scalability, or execution risk
Experience working across engineering, manufacturing engineering, supply chain, quality, test, operations, program management, and/or capture organizations
Experience developing or evaluating manufacturing strategies, build plans, assembly approaches, tooling concepts, make/buy strategies, cost drivers, schedule assumptions, business cases, or production-readiness plans
Experience supporting proposal development, capture strategy, basis-of-estimate development, price-to-win analysis, affordability analysis, production planning, investment planning, or early technical baseline definition
Demonstrated ability to brief technical strategy, producibility risks, manufacturing trade studies, proposal assumptions, business cases, affordability trades, and execution recommendations to senior engineering, program, and capture leadership
Experience working on a SAP

Nice To Haves

Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Systems Engineering, Materials Engineering, Industrial Engineering
Master’s degree in engineering, materials engineering, systems engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, or business administration
MBA or graduate-level business education with experience applying strategy, finance, marketing, business-case development, affordability analysis, ROI analysis, or competitive positioning to engineering and manufacturing decisions
Experience with design-for-manufacturing, design-for-assembly, model-based definition, determinate assembly, advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, automation, tooling strategy, or high-rate production systems
Experience with build-up test planning, ground test, flight test, system integration, hardware/software integration, production test planning, or manufacturing-readiness reviews
Experience leading geographically distributed or matrixed teams across engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, operations, facilities, test, quality, program management, and capture
Active U.S. government Top-Secret clearance or higher

Responsibilities

Manages a diverse set of Survivability CRAD and IRAD development programs
Will be responsible for the cost, schedule and technical performance of research programs, and management of engineering staff
Will be the key interface to Engineering Organizations for staffing, employee growth and performance appraisals
Responsible for all phases of Survivability Portfolio programs from inception through completion
Defines, develops, integrates Survivability designs and systems for future and emerging vehicle systems. Establishes design concepts, criteria and engineering efforts for product research, development, integration and test
Interfaces with NGAS Divisions to capture requirements and coordinate technology investments
Develops and executes Research & Technology roadmaps, supporting internal NG customers and external customer objectives, for both internal and external investment
Coordinates the preparation of proposals, business plans, proposal work statements and specifications, operating budgets and financial terms/conditions of contract
Participates in the negotiation of contracts and contract changes
Defines strategies for technology research, Customer and University/Lab engagement, identifying key areas of technology growth and projection into NG products
Develop new business in this Survivability Field
Will be the key interface with external Customers and National Experts in the field
Develop new business or expand the product line with the customer, both external and internal