Department Manager Engineering 3 – F-35 Product Support: Field Service Engineering

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is seeking a Department Manager, Engineering M3 to lead the F-35 Product Support organization. This role reports to the Engineering Integration & Execution (EI&E) leader on the F-35 program. This leadership role is located on-site, based at one of the following locations: El Segundo, CA, Ft Worth, TX, Eglin AFB, FL, and/or Hill AFB, UT.

The Department Manager is accountable for the performance, development, and engagement of a large engineering organization consisting of section managers and individual contributors. The role balances people leadership, technical oversight, and operational execution in a complex, program-driven environment.

This leader plays a critical role in aligning functional capabilities with program needs, enabling successful execution across cost, schedule, quality, and technical performance.

Key Responsibilities

People Leadership & Talent Management

• Lead all aspects of personnel management, including workforce planning, hiring, retention, engagement, redeployment, and succession planning.

• Partner closely with program leadership, HR, and functional peers to align talent to current and future program needs.

• Support staffing for section manager and senior technical roles, including requisition development, interview facilitation, onboarding, and mentoring.

• Foster a culture of engagement, collaboration, accountability/ownership, and belonging by modeling Northrop Grumman leadership behaviors: Sets a vision, builds a high performing team, takes ownership, leads with courage, responds to challenges with resilience and acts with speed

• Conduct performance management activities, including goal setting, quarterly connections, leadership development, and knowledge sharing activities.

Execution & Operational Leadership

• Drive day-to-day execution of departmental activities in support of program objectives.

• Serve as Delegation of Authority (DOA) in the absence of the Department Manager and/or EI&E leadership, as required.

• Ensure consistent application of functional engineering processes, tools, and best practices in alignment with the Center of Technical Excellence.

• Partner across functions to support cross-discipline and intra-discipline integration activities, data analysis, metrics development, and performance reporting in coordination with Strategy, Integration, and Operations.

Technical & Program Oversight

• Provide engineering leadership oversight for technical execution activities, including:

  • Root Cause and Corrective Action (RCCA) investigations

  • System Engineering Technical Reviews (SETRs), such as System Requirements Review (SRR), Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs);Flight Readiness Reviews (FRR).

  • Process audits and Independent Review Team (IRT) engagements

• Support long-range strategic planning efforts and execute special assignments as required.

Our Leaders at Northrop Grumman live our values daily and encourage our teams to do the same. We do the right thing: upholding the highest ethical standards and facilitating a safe and respectful environment that attracts, retains, and inspires a diverse and engaged team. We do what we promise: holding yourself and others accountable to meet predictable and balanced results. We commit to shared success: operating as OneNG and removing barriers for our teams. Finally, We pioneer: setting a vision that shapes the future and inspires others.

Basic Qualifications:

• Must have a Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 9 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 7 years of related engineering experience.

• Minimum 5 years of previous technical or functional management experience leading a team in Product Support Disciplines such as, but not limited to, Reliability & Maintainability (R&M), Support Equipment Engineering (SSE) and/or Serviceable Low Observables (SLO), Aircraft Modifications, Training & Tech Data, Field Services Engineering Support (FSE), and Supply Hardware (SH).

• Experience in leading, mentoring, and developing multidisciplinary engineering teams to deliver complex technical solutions, within cost and schedule constraints, across the various phases of the engineering lifecycle.

• Demonstrated capability in workforce and resource planning, including allocating resources across programs, managing workloads and priorities, forecasting staffing needs, and executing end-to-end hiring decisions.

• Strong leadership, interpersonal, and written/oral communication skills, enabling effective engagement with cross-functional stakeholders and customers.

• Must possess an active DoD Secret Clearance with recent investigation (within 6 years) to start with ability to obtain and maintain Special Program Access (SAP) within a reasonable time to meet business needs.

• Relevant experience in logistics support elements such as Reliability Maintainability & Testability (RMT), Logistics Support Analysis (LSA) & Maintenance Planning, Modeling & Simulation (ModSim), Support Equipment Engineering (SEE), Prognostics & Health Management (PHM), Supportable Low Observables (SLO), Obsolescence Management, Training & Training Systems, Technical Data, Support Hardware, Fleet & Field Support, and Product Support Management.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Engineering or a related field.

• Prior people leadership experience of large teams (75+).

• Demonstrated experience applying performance management process and HR policies, including goal setting, performance feedback, development planning, and addressing performance concerns in accordance with company policy.

• Experience with Earned Value Management Techniques (EVMS) / Control Account Management (CAM), Integrated Master Schedules (IMS), Basis of Estimates (BOEs) and cost-schedule-risk trade off management.

• Experience with the System Engineering Technical Review process (SRR, PDR, CDR and TRR)

• Experience identifying, developing, and managing performance metrics to support program and technical execution monitoring and control.

• Proven expertise in technical planning, risk & opportunity management, and driving project performance across cost, schedule, and technical quality.

• Experience with digital transformation-based initiatives, like Model Based Sustainment, in the area of product support including interfacing with government systems.

• Experience engaging with the DoD Logistics; Sustainment; Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) customer community and/or supporting military aircraft missions.