Sr Principal Contract Administrator

Northrop Grumman Weapon Systems Division, Armament Systems Business Unit (BU) is seeking an experienced and dynamic individual to join its team as a Senior Principal Contract Administrator located on-site in Mesa, AZ. This position requires excellent oral and written communication skills and regular interaction with various levels of executive management to include various functional organizations throughout the OU, BU, Division, and Sector levels.

In this role, the successful candidate will be responsible for producing high-quality Contract Management related products supporting the Weapon Systems Division, Armament Systems Business Unit (BU) programs. This position requires a comprehensive understanding of DoD contracting, exceptional written and verbal communication skills, advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365, and outstanding interpersonal and organizational capabilities. The successful candidate will be a highly collaborative team member as well as a trusted, self-directed senior contributor, demonstrating strong leadership, mature business acumen, and unwavering professionalism. They will bring a proven track record of sound judgment, rigorous work ethic, and sophisticated problem-solving skills, applied with precision and a consistently detail-oriented approach in a complex contracts environment.

• Provides expert interpretation of DoD regulations and complex commercial terms, leading negotiation of U.S. Government, commercial, and international contracts and agreements.
• Serves as a senior contracts advisor on competitive and sole-source RFPs, NDAs, and Teaming Agreements, applying ITAR and export knowledge to ensure compliant, competitive structures.
• Ensures rigorous compliance with company procedures, legal requirements, and customer specifications, identifying contractual and business risks and recommending mitigation strategies.
• Independently resolves complex contractual and business issues by seeking, synthesizing, and applying information from diverse sources to deliver practical, business-focused solutions.
• Proactively engages with program, technical, and operations leadership to provide contracts guidance, ensuring contract requirements, obligations, and risks are clearly communicated and managed.
• Exercises sound judgment in timely decision-making; provides clear guidance across technical, program, finance, supply chain, legal, export, and security stakeholders to drive alignment and issue resolution.
• Leads proposal preparation, complex contract negotiations, contract administration, and customer interactions to ensure successful contract acquisition and performance in accordance with all requirements.
• Reviews and validates cost estimates, contract performance requirements, and delivery schedules with a meticulous, detail-oriented approach to ensure accuracy, completeness, and alignment with contractual commitments.
• Processes specifications and progress reports; advises management on contractual rights, obligations, and risk; analyzes contract data; and maintains organized historical information to support informed decisions.

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 10 years of relevant experience; or master’s degree with at least 8 years of relevant experience. Will consider an additional 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree.
• At least 5 years of experience negotiating and administering a variety of domestic and international contract types and agreement structures.
• In-depth knowledge of FAR and DFARS, with expert experience applying these regulations across multiple contract types.
• Thorough understanding of applicable U.S. Government acquisition regulations and related compliance requirements.
• Strong proposal development and negotiation skills, with excellent oral and written communication tailored to senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to travel periodically, both domestically and internationally, in support of program and customer commitments.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Secret Clearance.

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to use them in informing, presenting, and negotiating to all levels of management.
• Strong problem solving and analytical skills; ability to make recommendations and effectively bring projects to completion

• Must possess excellent problem solving and decision-making skills that support accomplishment of discipline objective to resolve complex problems and minimize risk to the Corporation
• Ability to work independently and make independent decisions, ensuring high levels of collaboration with stakeholders and subject matter experts
• Knowledge of Contract Management System (CMS), SAP and/or Cost Point
• Proficient in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, SharePoint, etc.