Principal Engineer Reliability

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be 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.

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is looking for you to join our team as a Principal Engineer, Reliability, based out of Sunnyvale, CA.

The Principal Engineer, Reliability, is the key role to support the critical steam testing program for submarine components. Leads reliability engineering initiatives to improve uptime, reduce failure risk, and optimize lifecycle performance of critical operational assets, specifically a large capacity natural gas steam plant with variable loads and interdependencies.  Drives data-informed decision-making across maintenance, operations, and capital planning.  Reports to the Director on ensuring the steam supplied test facility meets Program needs.

What You’ll get to Do:

 

Equipment Reliability & Uptime

• Improve availability and performance of critical assets (Machines, boilers, automated systems)
• Drive improvements in MTBF and MTTR
• Lead troubleshooting of complex failures impacting production

 

Failure Analysis & RCCA

• Conduct root cause and corrective action (RCCA) for equipment failures

• Perform FMEA/FMECA and failure mode analysis

• Identify systemic issues and implement sustainable corrective actions

Maintenance Strategy (PM Optimization)

• Develop and optimize preventive maintenance (PM) programs

• Standardize maintenance practices across assets and teams

• Reduce unplanned downtime through structured reliability initiatives

Data Analytics & Performance Monitoring

• Analyze maintenance and production data to identify trends and failure patterns

• Utilize CMMS (SAP, Maintenance Connection) and dashboards (Power BI, Tableau)

• Support the development of performance metrics and reporting frameworks

Cross-Functional & OEM Collaboration

• Partner with Manufacturing, Engineering, and Operations to improve asset performance

• Interface with OEMs and vendors to resolve technical issues and improve reliability

• Support commissioning and ramp-up of new equipment

Capital & Lifecycle Support

• Support repair vs. replace decisions using reliability and cost data

• Contribute to capital investment planning and asset lifecycle strategies

Key Deliverables

• Improved uptime and reduced unplanned downtime

• Increased PM effectiveness

• Reduced failure recurrence through RCCA

• Data-driven maintenance insights, develops, coordinates, and conducts technical reliability studies and evaluations of engineering design concepts and design of experiments (DOE) constructs.

 

Basic Qualifications Principal Engineer, Reliability:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or related Engineering field

• 5 years of experience in manufacturing, maintenance, or reliability engineering

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

• The ability to obtain a DOD security clearance

• U.S. Citizenship required

Preferred Qualifications Principal Engineer, Reliability:

• Operational experience with land or sea-based steam plants

• Experience with FMEA, RCCA, and reliability modeling

• Lean Six Sigma or similar continuous improvement certification

• Experience in complex manufacturing environments

• Familiarity with data analytics tools (Excel, Power BI, Tableau)

What We Can Offer You:

Northrop Grumman offers a comprehensive benefits package and a work environment that fosters growth and supports the mutual success of our people and the company. Northrop Grumman benefits give you the flexibility and control to choose the benefits that make the most sense for you and your family.

Your benefits will include the following: a Health Plan, a Savings Plan, Paid Time Off, and Additional Benefits, including Education Assistance, Training and ​Development, a 9/80 Work Schedule (where available), and more.

​#MPR

Primary Level Salary Range: $103,600.00 - $155,400.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and 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 application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity 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 and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.