Principal Engineer Quality

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Description

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.

We are looking for you to join our Northrop Grumman Mission Systems team as a Principal Engineer Quality based out of San Diego, CA for the F-22 Program.

This role will support the Integrated Product Team on our manufacturing site and will provide quality support. Work activities will be focused on Material Review as part of the Nonconforming Material Control process, Corrective Actions & Root Cause Investigations, and quality data analysis and reports.

What you'll get to do:

• Develop, modify, apply, and maintain quality evaluation, control systems, and protocols for processing materials into semi-finished or finished products.  

• Partner with engineering and manufacturing to establish and uphold quality standards.  

• Design, analyze, and implement inspection and testing processes and equipment; conduct quality assurance tests, perform statistical analyses to determine cost and responsibility for non-conforming parts. 

• Audit quality systems, identify deficiencies, and drive corrective actions that meet reliability and documentation requirements; plan, conduct, report, and follow‑up on audits to ensure compliance and continual process improvement.   

• Identify and remove barriers to quality improvement through root‑cause analysis and corrective‑action planning.  

• Review contracts/SOWs/drawings to evaluate, interpret and apply company policies, ISO 9000, AS9102, MIL, IPC, and other standards applicable to designs and processes.   

• Interface with production‑floor roles (inspection, assembly, operations) and communicate clearly with all stakeholders.  

• Define, classify, and control quality characteristics for products, processes, and services; develop and validate control plans and work‑instruction updates.   

• Manage nonconformances across the facility; lead cross‑functional containments to ensure product compliance.  

• Create, use and interpret quality‑control tools (flowcharts, Pareto, control charts) and construct/interpret FMEAs.  

• Interpret technical drawings and specifications, including GD&T symbols, to verify compliance with design requirements 

• Apply benchmarking techniques to drive system‑wide quality improvements.  

• Facilitate team collaboration with brainstorming, conflict‑resolution, and other facilitation tools. 

• Specialize as needed in design, incoming material, production control, product evaluation, reliability, inventory control, or R&D as they apply to product or process quality.  

Basic Qualifications for the Principal Engineer Quality:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering or other STEM-related field with 5 years of Manufacturing, Quality Engineering or Quality Analyst experience; Master’s Degree in Engineering or other STEM-related field with 3 years of Manufacturing, Quality Engineering or Quality Analyst experience.

• Experience with process adherence to QMS (ISO9001, AS9100, etc) standards.

• Experience with various Inspection Methods and GR&R (Gauge Repeatability & Reproducibility).

• Experience with Preliminary or Material Review Board Process and dispositioning material in a manufacturing facility.

• Experience with Data Analytics and Statistical Analysis methods and techniques. 

• Experience mentoring employees. 

• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Clearance.

• US Citizenship required

Preferred Qualifications:

• Aerospace, Electrical, Industrial, or Mechanical Engineering backgrou