Principal Quality Engineer

Northrop Grumman is seeking a highly skilled Principal Quality Engineer to join our Mission Assurance team supporting Medium Caliber ammunition production in Plymouth, MN. In this key role, you will help ensure the reliability and performance of products that support our warfighters and national security

• Ensure compliance to contract quality requirements and AS9100 / ISO 9001 Quality Management System processes on development and production programs.
• Identify contractual quality requirements and translate them into quality program plans, inspection procedures, and quality requirement flow-down to suppliers.
• Provide expertise and guidance to program teams and suppliers on quality assurance, quality systems, tools, training, problem solving, statistical analysis, and continuous improvement.

• Lead and support cross‑functional investigations with internal teams, suppliers, and customers.
• Conduct technical diagnosis and root cause analysis for customer complaints, field failures, and internal escapes.
• Drive corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to eliminate recurrence and reduce risk.
• Work with Operations to initiate effective containment, investigation, and countermeasures to prevent defect outflow in‑house and to customers.

• Provide production line support at multiple locations, including on‑site monitoring of manufacturing lines and supplier processes.
• Assess suppliers’ capabilities and conformance to their Quality Systems, including process controls and inspection methods.
• Evaluate manufacturing methods and inspection capabilities; identify key characteristics and appropriate inspection strategies.

• Develop and implement product inspection plans and incoming inspection procedures.
• Initiate and support Material Review Board (MRB) actions; resolve nonconforming material issues and facilitate corrective actions.
• Review drawings for inspection capability and conformance to Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) standards.
• Perform statistical analysis (yield, SPC, key characteristics) and use Lean/Six Sigma tools to drive process improvements.
• Prepare and manage quality documentation, including quality code requisitions, CDRL (Contract Data Requirements List) deliverables, and customer submittals.
• Review inspection and acceptance data to assess process capability and product compliance.
• Report quality and mission assurance status to program management, quality leadership, and customers.

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering or a relevant STEM discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in quality planning, quality tools, and analysis in a manufacturing environment, or a minimum of 5 years in applied engineering.
• Experience in the aerospace and defense industry supporting highly regulated products or systems.
• US Citizenship is required.
• Manufacturing background with familiarity in metals and electronics production.
• Strong background in inspection equipment and techniques, with general knowledge of metrology and calibration.
• Solid understanding of engineering drawings and GD&T.
• Proficiency with Quality Tools (e.g., Statistics, DOE, FMEA, MSA).
• Experience working in a highly regulated environment (e.g., defense, aerospace, or similar).
• Strong technical knowledge in mechanical manufacturing, tools, gages, and calibration.
• ASQ certifications (CQA, CQE, CQM, or equivalent) are a plus.
• Proficiency with standard computer and data analysis tools.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with internal and external customers.
• Willingness to travel up to 25%, domestically and internationally, sometimes on short notice.