Principal Test Conductor

Northrop Grumman•Palmdale, CA

3d•$103,600 - $155,400•Hybrid

About The Position

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history. Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal Test Conductor to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within the Triton Test and Evaluation organization supporting the Mission Data Center. 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.

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.
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.
This position requires ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Top-Secret clearance
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.
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.

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

Responsibilities

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.
Maintains metrics on status of testing and constraints
Generating metrics for leadership reviews
Hot bench, Lab, and flight data management