Principal Test Conductor / Senior Principal Test Conductor

Northrop Grumman•Palmdale, CA

35d•$103,600 - $193,900•Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal Test Conductor/Sr. Principal Test Conductor to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within the Triton Test and Evaluation organization. This position will be located in Palmdale, CA. Mission-critical and hands-on—In this role you will be doing planning, coordinating, and executing production tests across multiple integration levels; leading test readiness reviews; troubleshooting anomalies in real time; and refining procedures to ensure tests meet mission objectives. In this role you will be supporting cross-functional delivery by serving as the liaison across program, engineering, and line management while coordinating test schedules and daily execution with managers, operators, and manufacturing on-site in San Diego (with overtime/off-hour flexibility and up to 10% travel). In this role you will be responsible for managing test schedules and status reporting, selecting and supervising technicians, and driving test execution quality from readiness through completion. This position requires outstanding written and oral communications skills. Individual will be required to serve as either a principal subject matter focal point between maintenance, design engineering, and test site team - contractor and customer. Individual must be able to work under only general direction to determine and develop approaches to solutions; must be able to work both within a team environment and independently; must be self-motivated, thorough, and detailed; and must be willing to learn additional engineering discipline areas. Extended Work Week, odd shifts, and weekend work will occasionally be required. We offer flexible work arrangements, 4/10 work schedule with every Friday off, phenomenal learning opportunities, exposure to a wide variety of projects and customers, and a very friendly team environment. We are looking for self-motivated, proactive, and goal-oriented people to help us grow our services and become even better at what we do. This opportunity is contingent on program funding. Start dates are determined after funding confirmation.

Requirements

Must have a High School Diploma and 9 years of related professional/military experience, OR Bachelor degree AND 5 years of related professional/military experience, OR a Master's degree AND 3 years of related professional/military experience OR a Ph.D. AND 1 year of related professional/military experience (for Principal Test Conductor)
Must have a High School Diploma and 12 years of related professional/military experience, OR Bachelor degree AND 8 years of related professional/military experience, OR a Master's degree AND 6 years of related professional/military experience OR a Ph.D. AND 4 year of related professional/military experience (for Sr. Principal Test Conductor)
Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a US Government Secret clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs
Ability to obtain and/or transfer and maintain the final U.S. adjudicated Secret clearance and any program access(es) required for the position within a reasonable period of time
In depth knowledge of or test experience, to include control room monitoring
General knowledge of aviation systems
Advance knowledge of unmanned aircraft and aircraft systems
Willingness to travel domestically and to OCONUS (up to 35%) which includes traveling to Rancho Bernardo, San Diego for training and preparation in support of travel assignments
Proficiency in Microsoft Office
Outstanding written and oral communications skills
Ability to work under only general direction to determine and develop approaches to solutions
Ability to work both within a team environment and independently
Self-motivated, thorough, and detailed
Willingness to learn additional engineering discipline areas

Nice To Haves

Active Secret/Top Secret Clearance
FAA Airframe and Powerplant License
Triton Production and/or Test experience
Prior test engineering experience on medium to large-sized unmanned aircraft
Experience testing RF, ethernet, and electrical cables
Experience with Teamcenter and Test Procedure Revision
Mechanical and test experience on aircraft and unmanned aircraft

Responsibilities

Planning, coordinating, and executing production tests across multiple integration levels
Leading test readiness reviews
Troubleshooting anomalies in real time
Refining procedures to ensure tests meet mission objectives
Supporting cross-functional delivery by serving as the liaison across program, engineering, and line management
Coordinating test schedules and daily execution with managers, operators, and manufacturing
Managing test schedules and status reporting
Selecting and supervising technicians
Driving test execution quality from readiness through completion
Providing laboratory support for integration testing
Supporting and hosting test planning working groups
Interfacing with test article design and analysis teams to define test configuration and data requirements
Reviewing and evaluating test requirements to ensure completeness of test program
Performing technical analysis of complete systems and prepares comprehensive system level evaluations
Supporting test card reviews in collaboration with other engineering disciplines and test operations personnel
Supporting test readiness reviews, and pre/post-test briefings
Providing mission control room support and make real-time decisions regarding safety, efficiency, and effectiveness
Conducting and contributing to pre and post-test data analyses to support anomaly identification and resolution
Maintaining metrics on status of testing and constraints
Generating metrics for leadership reviews
Hot bench, Lab, and flight data management