Principal or Senior Principal Operations Project Manager (OPM)

Northrop Grumman•Charlottesville, VA

8d•$89,400 - $167,500•Hybrid

About The Position

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Principal or Senior Principal Operations Project Manager (OPM) to support production and manufacturing operations at their Central Virginia manufacturing facilities. This is an individual contributor role, not a management position. The OPM is responsible for establishing and maintaining control account budgets, schedules, scope, and technical performance measurement for manufacturing and/or development efforts. The role involves ensuring safe, efficient, and high-quality production, leading manufacturing projects, and overseeing cost, schedule, and scope. The ideal candidate will manage to a line of balance, oversee root cause analysis and corrective actions, and interface with various technical and production teams to ensure hardware modules are built within cost and budget while meeting operational schedules. The primary presence will be in Charlottesville with possible travel to the Waynesboro site.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 5 years of experience in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, Supply Chain, or related field OR a Master’s degree with minimum of 3 years of experience in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, Supply Chain, or related field (for Principal OPM).
Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 8 years of experience in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, Supply Chain, or related field OR a Master’s degree with minimum of 6 years of experience in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, Supply Chain, or related field (for Senior Principal OPM).
Experience with tracking project cost, schedule and budget.
Experience supporting production in a manufacturing or operations environment.
Experience interfacing with Integrated Product Team (IPT) and cross-functional teams (Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality/Mission Assurance, Manufacturing).
Experience presenting to leadership or customers.
Able to obtain and maintain a Secret clearance.
US citizenship is required.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting complex composite production in a manufacturing or operations environment.
Experience managing Integrated Master Schedules and overall hardware status.
Experience with EVMS processes, baseline forecasting, risk and opportunity management, and Control Account Management (CAM).
Experience supporting EVMS, cost/schedule reporting, or budget tracking (direct or indirect).
Proven ability to assess issues, create and execute action plans, and report status and risks to leadership.
Current and active U.S. Government Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

Act as the primary manufacturing liaison to Integrated Product Team (IPT) for development and execution of the manufacturing strategy, ensuring alignment with program objectives.
Lead operational portions of program review sessions with internal and external customers, presenting and discussing technical, cost, schedule, and manufacturing performance.
Assess project and technical issues; develop, drive, and track action plans to meet productivity, quality, cost, schedule, and stakeholder satisfaction goals.
Develop and maintain mechanisms for monitoring project progress (metrics, dashboards, reviews), enabling early identification of risks and issues.
Coordinate intervention and problem solving with Integrated Product Team (IPT), engineering, suppliers, manufacturing managers, mission assurance, and customers to resolve constraints and improve flow.
Coordinate and lead the preparation of proposals from a manufacturing/operations standpoint; prepare and review all manufacturing Basis of Estimate (BOE) justifications.
Partner closely with cross-functional teams (e.g. Engineering, Quality, Programs, Global Supply Chain) to achieve safety, quality, delivery, and cost objectives while driving continuous improvement and operational readiness.
Support Earned Value Management System (EVMS) for manufacturing scope.
Manage indirect budgets for production operations.