Principal Quality Engineer

Principal Quality 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 Mission Systems (NGMS) is currently seeking a Principal Quality Engineer to join our team in Annapolis, MD.

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

• Bachelor of Science Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field with a minimum of 5 years of engineering experience in Quality Assurance, which can include investigating failures and identifying root causes or in Manufacturing, Process, Electrical or Mechanical Engineering field of work, performing technical job functions; OR a minimum of 3 years of engineering experience in Quality Assurance, which can include investigating failures and identifying root causes or in Manufacturing, Process, Electrical or Mechanical Engineering field of work performing technical job functions with a Masters Degree in a STEM field OR a minimum of 1 year of engineering experience in Quality Assurance, which can include investigating failures and identifying root causes or in Manufacturing, Process, Electrical or Mechanical Engineering field of work, performing technical job functions with a PhD Degree in a STEM field
• Experience with Data Analytics and Statistical Analysis methods and techniques
• Experience mentoring employees
• Experience with electrical or mechanical design requirements and specifications
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret Clearance
• US Citizenship required

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in at least one of the following standards (IPC, J-Std, MIL-STD)
• Experience with ISO
  9001 or AS9100 Quality Management System and AS9102 First Article Inspections (FAI)
• Experience Facilitating RCCAs with technical groups
• SAP Experience
• Experience leading cross-functional teams to resolve problems or issues
• Experience using Microsoft Excel, Minitab or equivalent tools for statistical analysis
• Experience with FMEAs, CARs, and audit processes
• Experience with Earned Value Management
• Experience in support of proposals and quoting of Quality hours in bids
• Experience with Material Review Board (MRB) process
• Experience with dispositioning hardware for quality related issues in a manufacturing facility

Primary Level Salary Range: $98,900.00 - $The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when…