R&D Program Manager 1 or 2 – Disruptive Mission Concepts

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’s Mission Systems sector is looking for a Program Manager (Level 1 or 2) to support the Disruptive Mission Concepts operating unit in San Diego, CA. Disruptive Mission Concepts is a research and development organization that pursues whitespace opportunities and conceives unprecedented mission capabilities, with a significant thrust in adjudicating ideas at the frontier of physics and other sciences and transforming them into mission-relevant applications. The ideal candidate will have a broad background spanning science and technology, systems engineering, business development, project management, and cross-functional people leadership.

The program manager will lead the execution of contracted R&D (CRAD) programs and internal R&D (IRAD) projects. They will lead proposal development and other capture activities to form a steady pipeline of CRAD programs in their portfolio. They will work with principal investigators and technical leads to define IRAD objectives and transition IRAD projects into CRAD programs. The ideal candidate will have excellent interpersonal, presentation, and writing skills; all of which will be used with customers and program teams alike to generate program visions, gain advocacy, and build trust.

The program manager is accountable for the delivery of all contractual and/or IRAD requirements on cost and on schedule, while achieving all technical requirements and creating customer intimacy to support value creation strategies and actions. The individual will lead cross-functional teams aligned to common program performance goals.

The program manager is responsible for managing all phases of the program life cycle from inception (proposal development) through startup, execution, and completion (contract closeout). Their responsibilities are the management of cost, schedule, and technical performance of programs and include, but are not limited to:  

• Cultivating customer relationships and intimacy to develop further opportunities within the customer community
• Developing new business opportunities through long term strategic planning, capture planning, and development of proposals and business plans
• Establishing a program organization that effectively addresses customer requirements and incorporates the necessary internal and external sub-organizations
• Leading and directing cross-functional integrated product teams to meet program cost, schedule, and technical performance objectives
• Measuring and reporting program performance
• Delivering presentations to customers, executive management, and other program stakeholders
• Participating in the negotiation of contracts, contract changes, specifications, operating budgets, schedule milestones, and key terms and conditions
• Establishing design concepts, criteria, and engineering efforts for product research, development, integration, and test
• Creation, review, and finalization of the program statement of work
• Identification, distribution, tracking, and completion of program requirements
• Establishment and management of the program and subordinate baselines
• Development and adherence to budget baselines utilizing earned value management or similar cost and schedule control methodologies and tools
• Identifying, allocating, and managing program resources, including workforce planning
• Managing government/customer supplied property or information (GFE, CFE, etc.)
• Managing suppliers to meet program objectives
• Adherence to all internal processes, policies, and applicable industry standards
• Ensuring program teams understand and adhere to contract scope and manages change through control board activities
• Development and adherence to master plans and schedules
• Conducting thorough risk and opportunity management practices including identification, mitigation, and realization

Basic Qualifications (Level 1):

• Bachelor’s degree and 5 years, or master’s degree and 3 years, of experience supporting U.S. government contracts and customers and/or project management in other industries
• 5 years additional experience in lieu of education
• Experience leading the performance of tasks on schedule and at cost and achieving all requirements as either project lead, integrated product team lead, control account manager, or similar
• Demonstrated success contributing to proposal teams, including generation of bases of estimates
• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time
• Ability to obtain TS//SCI and TS//SAP clearances

Basic Qualifications (Level 2):

• Bachelor’s degree and 9 years, master’s degree and 7 years, or doctoral degree and 4 years, of experience supporting U.S. government contracts and customers and/or project management in other industries
• 5 years additional experience in lieu of education
• Experience leading the performance of tasks on schedule and at cost and achieving all requirements as either project lead, integrated product team lead, or control account manager
• Demonstrated success managing proposal teams, including generation of bases of estimates
• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time
• Ability to obtain TS//SCI and TS//SAP clearances

Preferred Qualifications (Level 1 or 2):

• Degree in science or engineering
• Active TS or SCI clearance
• PMP, CSEP, or other pertinent certification
• Experience working efficiently on geographically distributed teams
• Excellent customer intimacy with science and technology (S&T) customers (e.g. DARPA, AFRL, etc.) as evinced by successful execution and/or capture of S&T programs
• Strong (multidisciplinary) technical background that can be leveraged to manage activities that cross disparate areas of science and technology

Salary Range: $123,200 USD - $184,800 USD

Salary Range 2: $147,800 USD - $221,800 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.