Sr Principal Engineer

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

CLEARANCE TYPE: None

TRAVEL: No

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.

Role Summary

The Sr Principal SMT Production Engineer will serve as a technical leader for Surface Mount Technology (SMT), Circuit Card Assembly (CCA), and conformal-coating manufacturing processes. This individual will oversee production-process performance, provide Design for Manufacturability and Assembly (DFM/DFA) input, and ensure CCA designs can be produced safely, reliably, repeatedly, and cost-effectively.

The engineer will lead efforts to improve quality, yield, throughput, capacity, and manufacturing cost through process optimization, automation, and the evaluation and implementation of new equipment and technologies. The role will also support product and program execution through manufacturing planning, build documentation, production readiness activities, issue resolution, and coordination across Engineering, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, and Program Management.

Key Responsibilities

SMT and Conformal-Coating Technical Leadership

• Serve as a senior technical lead and manufacturing-process owner for SMT, CCA production, conformal coating, automated soldering, and associated inspection processes.
• Provide hands-on technical support to production personnel, manufacturing supervision, process engineering, quality engineering, and design engineering.
• Monitor and improve process capability, first-pass yield, defect rates, throughput, equipment utilization, and overall production performance.
• Troubleshoot complex equipment, material, process, and product issues; lead structured failure investigations, root-cause analysis, and corrective-action implementation.
• Establish and maintain robust process controls using applicable tools such as Statistical Process Control, Design of Experiments, Process FMEA, mistake-proofing, measurement-system analysis, and equipment qualification.
• Support manufacturing compliance with applicable J-STD, IPC, MIL-STD, customer, program, safety, and configuration requirements.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, work instructions, build books, manufacturing plans, equipment settings, inspection criteria, and training materials.
• Partner with production and quality organizations to ensure manufacturing processes are repeatable, controlled, properly documented, and sustainable.

Design for Manufacturability and Producibility

• Review new and existing CCA designs and provide DFM/DFA feedback related to component selection, PCB layout, panelization, solder-joint formation, thermal considerations, inspection access, conformal coating, testability, repairability, and automation.
• Interface with electrical, mechanical, components, quality, and test engineering to resolve producibility risks before release to manufacturing.
• Participate in design reviews and Manufacturing Readiness Reviews, identifying process risks, capacity constraints, tooling needs, and manufacturing-development requirements.
• Support prototype and first-build activities, capture lessons learned, and ensure improvements are incorporated into designs and production documentation.
• Develop manufacturing approaches that account for long-term quality, repeatability, supply-chain considerations, production volume, and total cost.

Equipment, Automation, and Technology Development

• Identify, evaluate, and implement new manufacturing equipment and technologies that improve quality, yield, capacity, throughput, ergonomics, or cost.
• Develop technical and business justifications for capital-equipment investments, including requirements, alternatives, cost estimates, expected benefits, return on investment, implementation risks, and production impact.
• Lead or support equipment selection, factory acceptance, installation, qualification, validation, documentation, training, and transition to production.
• Develop and support automated soldering and inspection solutions, including equipment integration and process optimization for increased production rates.
• Evaluate opportunities involving automated optical inspection, solder-paste inspection, automated soldering, vision systems, robotic handling, data collection, and other advanced manufacturing technologies.
• Support capacity analysis, equipment loading, line balancing, production-rate increases, and manufacturing ramp-up planning.
• Coordinate preventive-maintenance, calibration, software, tooling, spare-parts, and sustainment strategies with appropriate support organizations.

Continuous Improvement

• Use production data and key performance indicators to identify and prioritize improvement opportunities.
• Lead continuous improvement projects focused on defect prevention, cycle-time reduction, yield improvement, capacity, labor efficiency, material utilization, and manufacturing cost.
• Develop implementation plans, quantify expected benefits, obtain stakeholder support, and advocate for necessary funding and resources.
• Establish measurable success criteria and verify that completed improvements deliver and sustain the expected results.
• Leverage manufacturing data and analytics to identify trends, predict issues, and improve process control.

Product and Program Support

• Represent SMT manufacturing for assigned products, product lines, or programs.
• Act as a primary manufacturing-engineering point of contact for assigned hardware within the production cell.
• Coordinate manufacturing activities across Design Engineering, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, Test, Program Management, and other supporting functions.
• Support engineering-development, qualification, pilot, and production builds of CCAs and related electromechanical hardware.
• Create and maintain build books and other manufacturing documentation necessary for successful hardware execution.
• Estimate and document non-recurring engineering and manufacturing costs associated with product introduction, process development, tooling, equipment, and production readiness.
• Support disposition of discrepant hardware and resolution of manufacturing-related nonconformances.
• Communicate manufacturing status, risks, recovery plans, and improvement activities to program and functional leadership.
• Lead or support production, yield, readiness, status, and problem-resolution meetings for technical and leadership audiences.
• Perform additional manufacturing-engineering and program-support duties based on production and business needs.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in a relevant design and manufacturing environment, or a master’s degree plus 6+ years of experience.
• Significant experience in manufacturing, production, process, or industrial engineering within a complex manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience with SMT and CCA manufacturing processes, including equipment, materials, and defect-resolution methods.
• Experience providing DFM/DFA or producibility input for electronic hardware.