4– Motion Controls Project Engineering

Northrop Grumman•Elkton, MD

11d•$98,900 - $185,000•Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Principal Project Engineer or Sr. Principal Project Engineer to join their team at the Elkton, Maryland location in support of the Propulsion Systems and Controls (PS&C) business unit. The PS&C facility in Elkton, Maryland designs, develops, and produces solid-propellant propulsion, ordnance, and motion controls systems for various Government and commercial customers. This project engineering position will perform project engineering and project management for the Motion Controls team, which designs and develops challenging motion control systems including nozzle vectoring systems and controllers, flight surface actuation, cold and hot gas valve control, and other critical motion control systems for space and defense applications. The project engineer will coordinate project and engineering activities, providing technical input with mechanical, electrical, software, and systems engineers to ensure on-budget, on-time delivery.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and 5+ years of relevant experience; OR Master’s degree in Engineering and 3+ years of relevant experience; OR PhD in Engineering and 1+ year of relevant experience (for Principal Engineer Level 3)
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and 8+ years of relevant experience; OR Master’s degree in Engineering and 6+ years of relevant experience; OR PhD in Engineering and 4+ years of relevant experience (for Sr. Principal Engineer Level 4)
Ability to obtain a Secret Clearance (U.S. Citizenship required)
Ability and willingness to travel as required

Nice To Haves

Ability to lead and coordinate a multi-disciplinary team (mechanical, electrical, software, systems, manufacturing, test) to plan, design, fabricate, integrate, and install multiple motion-control subsystems.
Experience with complex electro-mechanical systems, ideally including actuation or motion controls.
Current active Security Clearance.
Proficiency with Siemens NX and Siemens Teamcenter Unified Architecture or similar CAD/PLM tools.
Knowledge of systems engineering approaches to ensure program and customer requirements are met, including requirements flow-down and verification planning.
Experience as a Cost Account Manager (CAM) or equivalent, maintaining budgetary and schedule compliance while ensuring technical quality.

Responsibilities

Develop project scope, objectives, and deliverables for motion controls hardware in collaboration with the integrated project team.
Plan and manage project schedules, resources, and budgets for assigned scope to ensure execution remains on target.
Monitor progress against the plan, tracking milestones, timelines, costs, and technical risks; drive issue resolution and escalation as needed.
Manage changes to scope, schedule, and budget through a formal change-control process, including preparation of change requests and supporting technical rationale.
Identify, assess, and mitigate project risks; maintain a risk register and contingency plans for assigned hardware and tasks.
Communicate status, risks, and key decisions to stakeholders via reports, recurring meetings, and formal design/program reviews.
Ensure quality standards are met by planning and implementing appropriate design reviews, peer reviews, and test/verification activities.
Coordinate documentation and release of design and analysis results from the engineering team, ensuring configuration control and proper approvals.
Make recommendations for process and program improvements to enhance schedule adherence, technical quality, and team efficiency.
Support test planning and execution for design, fabrication, integration, and verification activities, working closely with test and manufacturing teams.
Support generation and execution of presentation materials for internal and customer reviews throughout the design lifecycle.
Work with procurement, suppliers, and materials management to ensure hardware and consumables are specified correctly and delivered to enable project execution.