Principal Engineer Aircraft Support

Northrop Grumman • Fort Worth, TX

2d • $89,900 - $134,900

About The Position

Northrop Grumman is seeking an experienced F-35 Project Manager / Mod Integrator to join its F-35 Mod Planning & Integration Team. The role combines aircraft engineering, F-35 depot-level modification management, and Agile/Scrum leadership to execute F-35 modification, sustainment, and depot-level activities. The person will serve as the primary focal point for sustainment and modification execution, working with Lockheed Martin, BAE, Depot Teams, and Contract Field Teams to ensure work is delivered safely, predictably, and to quality standards.

The role includes planning and coordinating aircraft, engine, system, and component modifications; maintaining modification schedules and aircraft status; addressing operational issues and execution risks; and coordinating work across engineering, quality assurance, logistics, sustainment, and other functions. It also includes end-to-end project planning, Agile practices, backlog and dependency management, metric reporting, stakeholder communications, and lessons-learned activities.

Travel is required approximately 10% of the time, with occasional support to MCAS Beaufort, MCAS Cherry Point/FRC-E, FRC-SE, MCAS Miramar, or NAS Lemoore. An active Secret clearance is required at the start. No relocation assistance is available. The stated primary salary range is $89,900 to $134,900. 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

• Bachelor of Science in a STEM field plus 5 years of aircraft maintenance or depot-level modification experience, or a master's degree plus 3 years of aircraft maintenance or depot-level modification experience.
• Active government Secret clearance.
• F-35 or fifth-generation aircraft maintenance experience.
• Willingness to support other CFT or Depot locations as needed.
• Ability to successfully complete and pass all required F-35 training courses for employment.
• USAF 7-Level or DoN CDI equivalent.

Nice To Haves

• PMP certification.
• Experience scaling Agile across multiple teams.
• Experience managing programs with regulatory, security, or compliance dependencies.
• Experience leading distributed or hybrid teams.
• Background in change management or organizational transformation.
• F-35 or fifth-generation aircraft MRO&U experience.
• Five or more years leading multi-system maintenance teams.
• Proficiency with TCTDs, engineering drawings, and manufacturing/material process specifications.
• Experience with F-35 sustainment tools such as PDM, JDL, ALIS, ServiceFlo, and Tableau.
• Knowledge of change/configuration management and retrofit change boards.
• Experience with governance related to aircraft scheduling, records management, configuration control, MIS, tool/FOD, E-Time, training, safety, security, hazardous waste, or supply chain management.

Responsibilities

• Plan, coordinate, and perform F-35 modification execution assignments involving aircraft, engines, systems, and components.
• Develop and evaluate specifications, design changes, and reparability assessments.
• Investigate operational issues and recommend solutions aligned with government and company safety and performance standards.
• Analyze operating data to identify root causes of wear, malfunctions, or premature removals.
• Review technical procedures, reports, drawings, manuals, publications, and other documentation.
• Own and maintain executing aircraft modification schedules.
• Coordinate with the F-35 Depot Flow Plan scheduling team, Modifications Manager, project managers, Agile Cell, CFT Team Leads, and Mod Management Leadership.
• Serve as the primary modification execution focal point for mod-team efforts.
• Identify and mitigate constraints and risks affecting critical-path milestones.
• Develop, track, and report aircraft status for contracted modification work.
• Coordinate interdepartmental activities across quality assurance, sustainment, engineering, modification kits and tooling, and logistics.
• Plan projects end to end, including modification scope, schedules, resource allocation, and risk tracking.
• Promote Agile and Scrum principles, team self-organization, and continuous improvement.
• Identify and remove barriers affecting CFT or Depot velocity and delivery timelines.
• Maintain and refine product backlogs with Change Request owners and cross-functional partners.
• Track and report Agile metrics, including velocity, burndown/burnup, cycle time, and throughput.
• Manage project communications for technical and executive audiences.
• Lead cross-team dependency management for multi-team or multi-quarter initiatives.
• Conduct post-incident and post-project retrospectives and produce lessons-learned documentation.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Savings plan.
• Company-paid holidays.
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.
• Potential eligibility for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus, depending on the position.

What This Job Offers

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