
Chief Engineer - Level 7
Compensation
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Job Description
Description
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.The Advanced Capabilities organization within Northrop Grumman Space Systems pushes the boundaries of innovation, redefines engineering capabilities, and drives advances in various sciences. Our team is chartered with providing the skills and innovative technologies to develop, design, produce and sustain optimized product lines across the sector while providing a decisive advantage to the warfighter. Come be a part of our mission.
Northrop Grumman Space Systems (NGSP) is seeking a Chief Engineer located in Aurora, CO.
This role will serve as the definitive technical authority for all aspects of engineering on all program elements (systems engineering/hardware/software/support/test) and leads a multi-disciplined engineering team managing the technical performance of the program meeting cost and schedule requirements including subcontracted elements.
- Serve as the technical authority for the program, to include chairing the Engineering Review Board
- Responsible for leading and developing the overall program strategy and long-term vision
- Collaborate with customers and stakeholders to understand business needs and align technical solutions
- Be the technical point of contact to the customer for the Program of Record.
- Be the technical liaison and independent advisor to the program manager.
- Coordinate requirements development, hardware/software design, verification, and validation activities.
- Ensure that the program adheres to sound engineering processes in the development, production, test, and sustainment of products for our customers and is in compliance with company policies, procedures, and quality standards.
- Maintain cognizance, and ensure horizontal integration, over technical activities within program Mission Capabilities and Product Areas.
- Formally present technical solutions to customers and senior leadership.
- Support the program manager in risk and opportunity management by identifying and owning risks associated with system performance.
- Provide oversight for system architecture and design development and supporting architecture roles.
- Provide technical leadership, direction and mentoring to other technical employees in the application of systems engineering principles, tools, and techniques to achieve practical end results.
- Develop advanced technology concepts and guide their development into a final product that has a direct impact on the Program and Operating Unit.
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) discipline and 16 years of relevant experience; 14 years with master’s degree; 12 years with PhD
- Minimum of 8 years of experience formally leading engineering teams/and or organizations to achieve a common goal.
- Must have US Citizenship with an Active DOD Top Secret clearance with SCI at time of application
- Demonstrated background of successfully applying and tailoring NG Systems Engineering Principles and Operating Practices to guide program technical design, development, and deployment of large-scale systems architectures in an agile methodology.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to lead the customer through reviews of technical performance.
- Strong collaboration skills with experience integrating multiple engineering specialties and working across BUs, divisions, sectors within NG as well as with industry partners and customer community.
- Ability to motivate and guide teams and activities without having formal “ownership” of the staff supporting those activities.
- Be able and willing to travel up to 25% as a part of the role.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Current/previous Mission Exploitation (MEX) Operating Unit (OU) program accesses and/or Existing relationships of MEX OU customer(s) and their stakeholder needs
- Experience leading the performance of technical design, production, and integration tasks on schedule, at cost and achieving all requirements as either a chief engineer or technical lead.
- Experience integrating multiple engineering specialties and stakeholders across multiple Teams and Suppliers
- Ten or more years of experience in remote sensing applications across multiple operating domains (air, land, sea, space, cyber)
- Ten or more years of experience developing Ground systems across multiple operating domains (space and tactical implementations)
- Five or more years of experience supporting development of mission-level campaign concepts of operations and Enterprise scale systems architectures.
- General knowledge of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and sensor-to-shooter mission areas to include current and emerging needs and technology capability gaps.
- Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) experience
- Demonstrated experience in making sound decisions in uncertain and difficult situations.
- Demonstrated experience collaborating in multi-time-zone work environments
- Demonstrated experience working in a highly-dynamic schedule environment
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Job Details
- Category
- Business & Finance
- Employment Type
- Full time
- Location
- Aurora, CO 80013, United States
- Posted
- Nov 16, 2025, 07:00 PM
- Listed
- Jan 17, 2026, 11:45 AM
- Last updated
- Jan 17, 2026, 02:25 PM
- Compensation
- $212,100 - $318,100 per year
About Northrop Grumman
Part of the growing space industry ecosystem pushing humanity toward interplanetary exploration.
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