Principal / Sr Principal Mission Planner

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

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.

The NASA Range Hawk program is seeking a Principal / Sr Principal Mission Planner for developmental test and operational flights for the RQ-4 Range Hawk located at NASA AFRC, Edwards AFB. Mission planner will support the NASA Range Hawk Program by producing mission plans per engineering release in a dynamic operational environment.  This position may require intermittent travel to other contractor/test sites on short-term assignments.  This position will be located in Edwards AFB, CA.

Responsibilities include:
 Interpret and clarify customer and pilot functional requirements in order to produce highly accurate and error free Range Hawk mission plans using Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS).  This requirement demands an individual with critical attention to detail and strong prescient analytical mind set, use to being self-motivated, to build computer based mission plans for Global Hawk Aircraft.  The candidate will also help support software development of emerging mission planning software upgrades. 

Essential Job Duties:

• Creates unique mission plans using Latitude/Longitude waypoints for taxi and flight routes used by the NASA Range Hawk aircraft, which become the only routes the aircraft can fly.  A Mission Planner builds these routes using the Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) in order to achieve detailed test plan objectives.
• Use survey data information including Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File (DAFIF) if available to determine coordinate locations for waypoints and ellipsoid heights for beginning and end of runway and taxi paths on an airfield. Complies with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and local airspace restrictions for all routes of flight including avoiding over flight of populated areas for safe NASA Range Hawk flight operations.
• Develop routes of flight that avoid impacting population and causing property damage on all NASA Range Hawk routes, especially engine out scenarios.
• To safely program NASA Range Hawk approaches, construct approach slopes descending in altitudes for all approach routes on the let down to landing.  C3s (engine out approaches and landings) at 5.25 degrees and all powered on approaches and landings at 4.5 degrees.
• For autonomous NASA Range Hawk operations complete all contingency stitching (routes the aircraft will take in case of degradation or abnormal operating conditions in the aircraft develop) for in-flight waypoints including loss link(C1), return to base (C2), engine out (C3) and go-around (C4) scenarios.
• In order to evaluate the safe operations of a NASA Range Hawk mission, complete data analysis using Beyond Compare software for difference comparison of validated mission plans.
• Coordinate the development of Sensor Routes in a mission plan for in-flight data collection using Radar, Electro-Optical and Signals intelligence criteria.
• Coordinate with Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) to validate NASA Range Hawk Mission Plans.
• Coordinate with appropriate agencies and teams to ensure that validated mission plans are uploaded to the air vehicle and shelter including valid checksums of the mission data.
• In order to control the mission plan software that will be loaded on the air vehicle and the ground station, input mission and maintain mission plans loaded to Teamcenter.

This requisition may be filled at a higher grade based on qualifications listed below.

Basic Qualifications:

This requisition may be filled at either a Principal or Sr Principal Mission Planner.

Basic Qualifications for Principal Mission Planner

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Science, Technical, Engineering or Math (STEM)
• A minimum of 5 years experience or 3 years with a Masters in STEM that includes military/professional experience with a background in Navigator/M