Sr. Principal Program Lead - Enterprise Company Story

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Sr. Principal Program Lead, Enterprise Company Story to join our enterprise Brand Experience team and report to the manager of Content & Editorial Strategy. This role is a critical part of the Enterprise Editorial Board and X-Comm operating models and is responsible for leading integrated communications planning that amplifies the major themes supporting the company story across the enterprise. 

This position will serve as the communications lead for sustained, thematic brand storytelling priorities—such as advanced manufacturing, job creation, speed, and capacity—bringing together paid, earned, owned, employee communications, and creative teams around a unified message, integrated strategy, and coordinated execution plan. The Program Manager will work closely with enterprise communications partners, cross-functional channel specialists, and creative teams (X-Pods), to ensure the company story is communicated clearly, consistently, and with discipline over time. 

The ideal candidate will be a strong strategic thinker and operator who is comfortable leading integrated planning in a matrixed environment, coordinating across multiple disciplines, and managing work that requires both long-range consistency and ongoing adaptation. The right candidate will have strong judgment, excellent collaboration skills, and the ability to translate enterprise priorities into clear, actionable content and communications plans. 

This position is based in one of the following locations: Washington, D.C. metro area (Falls Church, VA, Dulles, VA, Baltimore, MD, Linthicum, MD), San Diego, CA, Melbourne, Florida, or Los Angeles, CA. This is not a remote position. Teleworking arrangements are subject to change based on the needs of the business. 

Responsibilities Include: 

Integrated Communications Planning 

• Lead the development of integrated communications plans that amplify major company story themes across paid, earned, owned, employee, and creative channels 

• Serve as the primary communications lead for assigned company story priorities, ensuring plans support enterprise strategy and business goals 

• Define key messages, target audiences, communications objectives, and channel roles for each thematic initiative 

• Ensure communications plans are cohesive, sustained, and aligned to the broader enterprise narrative and brand standards 

• Develop long-term thematic content plans that reinforce the company story over time, beyond short-term campaign or story-package publishing windows 

Cross-Functional Coordination 

• Partner with specialists across paid media, earned media, owned content, employee communications, events/experiential, and creative services to build and execute integrated plans 

• Work through the Enterprise Editorial Board to shape, align, and activate company story plans across channels 

• Coordinate with enterprise communications leaders, business-facing communicators, and creative partners to ensure consistency and avoid fragmented execution 

• Work closely with a shared Project Manager to manage timelines, publication schedules, deliverables, and creative coordination 

• Maintain strong communication across stakeholders to ensure alignment on priorities, messaging, timing, and execution 

Strategy and Message Alignment 

• Translate enterprise priorities and company story themes into clear integrated communications strategies 

• Ensure messaging is aligned to enterprise narrative, business priorities, and the company’s overall brand positioning 

• Identify opportunities to reinforce major themes through sustained storytelling and coordinated communications planning 

• Advise stakeholders on communications approaches, tradeoffs, and priorities to improve focus and effectiveness 

• Help ensure the company speaks with one voice across channels, initiatives, and audiences 

Execution and Operational Discipline 

• Drive planning and execution with consistency, discipline, and strong coordination across a matrixed organization 

• Ensure thematic communications plans move efficiently from strategy through execution and publication 

• Help identify risks, gaps, dependencies, and resource needs early so teams can adjust quickly 

• Monitor progress against schedules and support timely decision-making 

• Contribute to the development of repeatable planning practices, tools, and ways of working that strengthen the enterprise brand story function over time 

• Foster a culture of data-driven decision-making by promoting the use of insights throughout the organization to up-level strategy and omnichannel communications.  

• Compile and analyze data to create regular Company Story Ed Board reports and presentations that communicate key findings and recommendations to stakeholders.  

• Prepare and present regular reports on company story content performance and create actionable plans and recommend improvements that inform marketing initiatives. 

Basic Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of related experience OR Master’s degree with 6+ years of related experience 

• Strong verbal and written communications skills 

• Experience developing communications, content, brand, or campaign plans in a complex organization 

• Ability to collaborate with and influence cross-functional teams, managers, and senior leaders 

• Experience managing multiple projects or priorities simultaneously and meeting deadlines 

• Strong organizational and project management skills, and ability to bring structure to integrated planning work 

• Ability to translate complex business priorities into clear communications and content strategies 

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to gather, analyze, and interpret data from various sources. 

• Strong presentation skills and comfort with presenting to audiences at all levels, including senior leadership. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience in integrated communications, brand strategy, content strategy, campaign planning, or corporate communications 

• Experience working in a large, matrixed organization 

• Experience working for or with aerospace, defense, technology, or other highly regulated industries 

• Experience partnering across paid, earned, owned, employee, and creative disciplines 

• Strong strategic thinking and stakeholder management skills 

• Experience leading cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority 

• Ability to operate effectively in environments that require both long-range planning and day-to-day agility 

• Energetic team presence with an eagerness to learn and recommend new and innovative ideas to foster strategic objectives.