Principal / Sr. Principal Engineer Material Process - Composites

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 Material Process Engineer or a Sr. Principal Material Process Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals in El Segundo, CA in support of the Palmdale Aircraft Integration organization. Join Northrop Grumman on our continued mission to push the boundaries of possible across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Enjoy a culture where your voice is valued and start contributing to our team of passionate professionals providing real-life solutions to our world’s biggest challenges. We take pride in creating purposeful work and allowing our employees to grow and achieve their goals every day by Defining Possible. With our competitive pay and comprehensive benefits, we have the right opportunities to fit your life and launch your career today.

Responsibilities

• Own aspects of materials and process engineering related to testing, process development, and material selection.
• Approve material and process selection based on program requirements.
• Design and develop new processes for implementing materials related to F-35.
• Rapid prototyping of novel coupon configurations to support production ramp up.
• Support design engineering and production for materials selection.
• Test and characterize materials.
• Implement new processes in volume manufacturing.
• Manufacturing ramp to hit rate and yield.
• Negotiate and request changes, with the customer, to material and process specifications, as well as quality control specifications.
• Develop integrated process experiments to lead key process improvement initiatives and process development to increase efficiency.

Requirements

• Bachelor's in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) and at least 5 years of experience, a Master's Degree in STEM with 3 years of experience, or a PhD Degree with no experience for Principal Engineer.
• Bachelor's in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) and at least 8 years of experience, a Master's Degree in STEM with 6 years of experience, or a PhD Degree with 3 years of experience for Sr. Principal Engineer.
• Ability to obtain a DOD Secret clearance within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company to meet its business needs (US citizenship is a pre-requisite).

Nice-to-haves

• Degree in materials engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, polymer science or other relevant field of study.
• Professional experience with R&D and manufacturing, preferably in the aerospace industry.
• Experience with material selection, such as: Polymers and adhesives, Composites, Metals.
• Experience with testing and characterization.
• Experience with process engineering.
• Design of experiment (DOE) and statistical process control (SPC).
• Experience with risk mitigation.
• Capable of implementing failure analysis techniques in manufacturing.
• Ramp up rate for high volume manufacturing.
• Yield engineering.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Savings plan.
• Company paid holidays.
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.