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 Systems Integration, Test and Evaluation Organization (SIT&E) within the Aeronautics Sector has openings for qualified applicants in the area of Flight Test Aircrew.

SIT&E is responsible for manufacturing and assembly of space vehicle subsystems; assembly, integration and test of spacecraft buses and payloads; laboratory, ground and flight test of manned and unmanned aircraft; design, development and operations of aircraft System Integration Labs and both aircraft and spacecraft environmental labs; and the design and build of test instrumentation and data systems. It is our job to make sure our cutting edge products are ready to deploy to our customers and complete their missions. To this end, we employ Test Engineers, Test Conductors, Test Directors, Technicians, Design Engineers, Software Engineers, Data/Instrumentation Engineers, Manufacturing Engineers, Network Engineers, System Administrators, Test Pilots, Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Pilots, Weapons/Sensor Operators, and Mission Planners at operating locations in Rancho Bernardo, Palmdale and Edwards AFB , CA; Melbourne and St Augustine, FL; Patuxent River, MD; and MISC Offsite Locations.

The HALE Program is seeking an Airborne Systems Operator for Q-4 series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) during developmental test and operational flights. Individual will remotely employ ISR sensors as a crewmember performing the role of a Sensor Operator (SO) for the RQ-4 Global Hawk and a Mission Payload Operator (MPO) for the MQ-4C Triton.

Typical duties include (but are NOT limited to):

• Remotely operates payload sensors to determine compliance with specification and operational suitability during engineering tests and flight test/demonstration support through specifically prescribed tests and maneuvers.

• Assess operation of sensors and the quality collected data, which may include, but is not limited to, electro-optical imagery, infrared imagery, synthetic aperture radar imagery, and moving target indicator data (ground and maritime).

• Define and execute complex collection plans for flight test events.

• Participate in briefings and debriefings, and coordinates with maintenance personnel to analyze and correct vehicle discrepancies.

• Candidate may participate in demonstration flights with customers, government officials or other personnel to exhibit vehicle performance, flying qualities and system capabilities.

• Conduct Mission System and Air Vehicle ground and flight tests, as a crewmember or non-crewmember, to support the System Specification verification process, Production Verification, and follow on testing.

• Defines plans, organizes and executes complex flight profiles and flight test events.

• Act as engineering and data analysis liaison for Future Development Insertion for the System.

• Write technical reports for ground and flight test events.

• Attend Air Vehicle and Mission System Technical Interchange Meetings, Preliminary Design Reviews, Critical Design Reviews, and Flight Readiness Reviews.

• Support engineering with development of test plans, procedures, and test cards.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with 9 years of related experience in military aviation operations OR a High School Diploma with 13 years of directly related military aviation operations

• 3 years of experience as a sensor operator/imagery analyst or civilian equivalent

• Current Class III FAA Physical or better

• Current active DoD Secret clearance with investigation in last 5-6 years required

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience as MQ-1/MQ-9/RQ-4 SO or MQ-4C MPO

• Experience as a remote airborne system operator for unmanned vehicles

• Aircrew experience

• Instructor/evaluator experience

• Military intelligence analyst

• Flight test experience

• Current DoD Top Secret

Salary Range: $129,700 USD - $194,500 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.