Principal Tooling Engineer / Sr. Principal Tooling Engineer

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 Tooling Engineer or Sr. Principal Tooling Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position will be located in Iuka, MS.

Our team designs Tooling to support Aerospace composite part fabrication, handling, and assembly for the commercial and defense aerospace industries.  Engineers get the opportunity to manage their work from design concept thru implementation.  Our Tooling Team works independently, but interacts closely with safety, engineering, manufacturing, and customers to achieve expectations. 

We enjoy a fast-paced work environment with high expectations, diverse assignments and collaboration with internal and external customers.  We work closely with manufacturing engineers, CAD designers, safety and operations.  We pride ourselves in coming up with new ways to provide tooling that is safe, cost effective, and operationally efficient.

In this role you will be responsible for designing industrial machinery and equipment, tools, dies, gauges, jigs, fixtures, and machine attachments required for production or experimental use, while considering such factors as accessibility, economy, mobility, and performance requirements.

Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:

• Coordination of design and fabrication requirements for tools and fixtures with customers, both internal and external
• Coordinate/develop & execute test plans
• Performing tolerance analysis to ensure form/fit/function
• Conduct root cause failure investigations and implement associated corrective actions
• Develop & evaluate process improvements
• Assist Product Development Team with new product designs to ensure manufacturability, validate process/technology.
• Developing manufacturing processes, plans, and procedures for the fabrication of tools and equipment in support of our process work instructions and visual aids of our shop planning process and other functions that affect product performance.
• Managing all phases of project: design, document, fabricate, assemble and validate

We offer flexible work arrangements, phenomenal learning opportunities, exposure to a wide variety of projects and customers, and a very friendly team environment. Work schedules can vary, but we strive for a 9/80 work week, which gives us every other Friday off to pursue interests outside of the office. The shift for this role will be a day shift with intermittent travel - not expected to exceed 10%. Travel is typically all within the continental US and mainly involves tooling vendor visits and sourcing.

Basic Qualifications:
This role may be filled at a Principal Tooling Engineer or Sr. Principal Tooling Engineer based on the qualifications outlined below.

Principal Tooling Engineer 

• Bachelor’s Degree with 5 years of experience in engineering, design, tooling, fabrication, or manufacturing/ production environment; Master’s Degree with 3 years of experience in engineering, design, tooling, fabrication, or manufacturing/ production environment; PhD with 0 years of experience. Note: An additional 4 years of experience and/or education engineering, design, tooling, fabrication or manufacturing/ production may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Experience with utilizing Siemens NX/CATIA CAD tools or applicable 3D CAD systems
• Ability to obtain a DoD Secret Security Clearance and special program access within a reasonable period of time as determined by the needs of the business

Sr. Principal Tooling Engineer 

• Bachelor’s Degree with 9 years of experience in engineering, design, tooling, fabrication, or manufacturing/ production environment; Master’s Degree with 7 years of experience in engineering, design, tooling, fabrication, or manufacturing/ production environment; PhD with 4 years of experience in engineering, design, tooling, fabrication, or manufacturing/ production environment. Note: An additional 4 years of experience and/or education engineering, design, tooling, fabrication or manufacturing/ production may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Experience with utilizing Siemens NX/CATIA CAD tools or applicable 3D CAD systems
• Ability to obtain a DoD Secret Security Clearance and special program access within a reasonable period of time as determined by the needs of the business

Preferred Qualifications:

• Active DoD Secret Security Clearance
• Bachelor’s Degree in Science, Technology Engineering or Math. 
• Experience in an aerospace manufacturing environment
• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
• Experience with Aerospace Tooling 
• Ability to Read/understand blueprints/GD&T in accordance with ASME 14.5
• 1 year of Experience working with SAP

ASBUJobs

Salary Range: $77,700 USD - $116,500 USD

Salary Range 2: $96,200 USD - $144,400 USD

Employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The health and safety of our employees and their families is a top priority. The company encourages employees to remain up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations. U.S. Northrop Grumman employees may be required, in the future, to be vaccinated or have an approved disability/medical or religious accommodation, pursuant to future court decisions and/or government action on the currently stayed federal contractor vaccine mandate under Executive Order 14042 https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/contractors/.

Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO/AA and Pay Transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for most positions.