Mechanical Engineer - Additive Tank Product Design & Development Technical Lead - Level 5

Northrop Grumman • Commerce, CA

11d • $161,000 - $241,400

About The Position

Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to serve as the technical lead for its additively manufactured tank and scalable product line within the Mission Enabling Products team. The position is located in Commerce, California. The lead owns the product technical baseline, including requirements, architecture, design, analysis, interfaces, engineering definition, product-critical tooling requirements, verification, and qualification. The role exercises technical authority without direct reports and partners with manufacturing, design, analysis, materials and processes, and the Chief Engineer.

The Mission Enabling Products business unit designs, builds, and delivers space, defense, and aviation-related systems, including satellites and space components, launch vehicles and propulsion systems, missile products, defense electronics, precision weapons, armament systems, and advanced aerospace structures. The role requires leading product development from requirements through design, analysis, manufacturing, verification, and qualification, and communicating product maturity, margins, risks, decisions, and recommendations to program leadership. Travel is 10% of the time. Relocation assistance may be available. No clearance is required to start, but the candidate must be able to obtain and maintain the required security clearance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related STEM discipline and 12 years of relevant engineering experience; or a master’s degree in a related STEM discipline and 10 years of relevant experience; or a Ph.D. in a related STEM discipline and 8 years of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated technical leadership of complex mechanical products from requirements through design, analysis, manufacturing, verification, and qualification.
• Demonstrated experience with additive manufacturing or other advanced manufacturing methods and ability to incorporate them into technical roadmaps.
• Advanced experience with mechanical design, requirements development, engineering definition, GD&T, interface control, and tolerance analysis.
• Experience directing structural and thermal analyses and using results to make product-level decisions.
• Experience leading and influencing cross-functional technical teams and effectively interfacing with customers and senior leadership.
• Experience with pressure-containing, highly loaded, or similarly complex hardware.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams, design reviews, verification planning, and technical-risk resolution without direct reporting authority.
• Ability to obtain and maintain the required security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with tanks, pressure vessels, propulsion hardware, or aerospace structures.
• Experience designing metal additively manufactured hardware.
• Knowledge of fatigue, fracture mechanics, damage tolerance, buckling, and pressure-system qualification.
• Experience developing scalable product families or common product architectures.
• Experience defining and overseeing tooling for assembly, handling, integration, and test.
• Familiarity with machining, joining, inspection, additive-process qualification, CAD/PLM, requirements management, and configuration control.

Responsibilities

• Own and control product-line requirements, architecture, configurations, interfaces, design rules, verification methods, and the product technical baseline.
• Lead mechanical design of tanks, domes, joints, supports, interfaces, and associated hardware.
• Direct structural, thermal, pressure, fatigue, fracture, buckling, and other required analyses, including model validation and test correlation.
• Own functional GD&T, datum architecture, tolerance stacks, critical characteristics, acceptance criteria, and engineering-definition release; obtain documented manufacturability and inspectability concurrence from the Additive Manufacturing Lead.
• Review DFM/DFA assessments led by the Additive Manufacturing Lead and determine how recommendations are incorporated into the controlled product design.
• Approve design allowables, criteria, and margins using process data and capability evidence supplied by the Additive Manufacturing Lead.
• Own joint performance, geometry, interfaces, fits, and acceptance requirements; coordinate with the Additive Manufacturing Lead on joining-process development and qualification.
• Define product-critical, assembly, handling, integration, and test-tooling requirements, including loads, interfaces, accuracy, and acceptance criteria; agree on tooling classification before work begins.
• Define product characteristics, tolerances, acceptance criteria, and verification closure; the Additive Manufacturing Lead owns manufacturing inspection methods and process controls.
• Own product verification and qualification, including test articles, instrumentation, acceptance criteria, analysis-to-test correlation, and requirements closure.
• Approve changes affecting requirements, form, fit, function, interfaces, design margins, or product qualification, and define the documented manufacturing envelope within which manufacturing changes may be controlled.
• Lead integrated issue resolution when product performance or design risk is primary; require concurrence from the Additive Manufacturing Lead when both technical baselines are affected.
• Recommend design maturity and engineering release; overall program authorization also requires the separate manufacturing-readiness recommendation of the Additive Manufacturing Lead.
• Mentor engineers and communicate product maturity, margins, risks, decisions, and recommendations to program leadership.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Total Rewards and benefits package.
• Health insurance coverage.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Savings plan.
• Company-paid holidays.
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.
• Employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus, depending on the position.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior