Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is seeking a Director of Airworthiness  Engineering to lead a program in the Airworthiness Office in Melbourne, FL. Reporting to the Senior Director of Airworthiness & Weapon System Cybersecurity, this role is instrumental in driving program engineering excellence for successful airworthiness certification.  

The selected candidate will work within the Airworthiness & Weapon System Cybersecurity organization, ensuring the logical and systematic realization of customer airworthiness certification objectives into system solutions to meet program needs throughout the product lifecycle in a digital engineering environment (e.g. Flight Releases, Type Certification, continued airworthiness, and operation of airspace integration). 

Core Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:​

Discipline Lead Management:

• Provide Airworthiness engineering leadership to program Chief Engineer, Program Manager, EI&E program leads and manage the Airworthiness program team.
  

Strategic and Technical Leadership:

• Performs independent technical airworthiness planning and verification support including development and negotiation of airworthiness plans, bases of certification, methods of compliance, and other certification activities for complex systems with IPT/REs as well as customer counterparts.

• Provide technical leadership by ensuring the delivery of Airworthiness commitments related to cost, schedule, and technical quality

Stakeholder Collaboration:

• Collaborate to develop a digital Airworthiness governance framework integrating Airworthiness into a Digital Engineering Environment to enable NGAS and Customer data/knowledge parity to speed up airworthiness approvals.
  

Metrics, Dashboards & Data-Driven Continuous Improvement

• Institute rigorous performance metrics, proactive issue tracking, and standardized processes to ensure consistent Airworthiness engineering excellence. 

• Support Program Risk Review Boards from the Airworthiness perspective to support flight test and permanent flight clearance and/or Military Type Certificate for the program life-cycle. 

• Serve as a primary resource for Program Management and Chief Engineer to elevate and manage Airworthiness issues. 
  

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’s of Science degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline AND 9 years of related professional/military experience within the Aerospace and Defense industry that includes a background in leadership positions, OR a Master’s of Science degree in a STEM discipline and 7 years of related professional/military experience within the Aerospace and Defense industry that includes a background in leadership positions.

• Must have 5 or more years of experience directing multi–function engineering teams to achieve common goals, including planning, risk management, and project performance. 

• Must have experience in establishing and maintaining an Airworthiness Certification Plan, negotiating Airworthiness Basis of Certification using Mil-HDBK-516 as a guide, and coordinating with Responsible Engineers and Customer Subject Matter Experts to attain flight authorizations for the program.

• Must have experience in Safety and Flight Critical Functions, relationship to System Processing Architectures and be able to coordinate with stakeholders to ensure acceptable Airworthiness risk related to design specifics and level of rigor for both internally developed elements as well as supplier provided components.

• Must have experience in estimating, acquiring and managing budgets, schedules, and complex technical programs.

• Must have experience in complex systems development, advanced digital engineering, and data–driven process improvement. 

• Must possess an active U.S. Government in-scope Secret security clearance.

• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Program Access (PAR/SAP) within a reasonable period, as determined by the company to meet its business needs.
  

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Master’s of Science degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline 

• 15 years or more of progressive engineering experience within aerospace, defense, or related industries. 

• Excellent leadership, strategic planning, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills. 

• Military aircraft development or modification experience

• Ability to initiate Airworthiness Certification process improvement initiatives

• Design and Systems Engineering experience in one or more of the following areas: Structures, Flight Technology, Air Vehicle Subsystems, Avionics, Mission Payload Integration, System Safety, Flight Test, Configuration Management

• Control Account Management (CAM) and Earned Value Management System (EVMS) experience including Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) planning and tracking, Earned Value reporting, variance analysis, and Estimate at Complete (EAC) forecasting.

• Familiarity with modern digital engineering tools and agile methodologies to include Digital Engineering Ecosystems and airworthiness metrics reporting.

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

• Experience initiating risk and opportunity development based upon technical team performance

• A current active U.S. Government in-scope Top Secret security clearance and Special Program Access (PAR/SAP).