2026 Flight Controller - Dulles VA

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No
CLEARANCE TYPE: None
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.

Expand your horizons, advance your career, and contribute to a secure future for generations. Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector invites you to bring your pioneering spirit to our collaborative teams. As a Flight Controller – Level 1 or 2 located in Dulles, VA, you’ll be a linchpin in missions of paramount importance, defining the art of the possible from day one. You’ll be primarily supporting the Flight Dynamics team on IceSat-2 which is designed to measure the 3D elevation of Earth’s ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, forests, and water surfaces using advanced laser technology to track changes over time. This position is 100% onsite and cannot accommodate telecommute work. Job responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Provide mission operations support to Satellite programs including flight control.
• Support system maintenance activities such as procedure updates, architecture upkeep, and formal program milestones.
• Work with systems engineers to conduct anomaly review board investigations, as necessary.
• Conduct testing using simulators and resolve discrepancies.
• Develop and test command procedures, telemetry pages, and other products derived from vendor provided documentation
• Monitor vehicle state of health across all subsystems and perform short and long-term telemetry trending.
• Track space vehicle configuration, to include both hardware, software, and configurable item parameters.
• Make modifications to existing operations procedures to incorporate lessons learned from in-flight performance. Develop new procedures as required.
• Provide status reporting through both the functional and program reporting branches.
• Maintain standards associated with the established functional group processes.
• Support internal and external customer meetings through proficient verbal and documented (MS PowerPoint, MS Word, MS Excel) communications.
• Other duties as assigned

Basic Qualifications for Associate Engineer:

A candidate, regardless of age and hiring source, must meet ALL of the below criteria. The candidate must:

• Be completing or has completed their Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution.
• Be majoring in or having majored in a STEM field
• Ability to work within a group of diversified individuals with varying backgrounds to achieve mission success
• Outstanding verbal and written communications skills, including ability to make persuasive presentations to external customers at milestone review
• Willingness and ability to support a 24/7 environment

Basic Qualifications for an Engineer:

• Be completing or has completed their Master’s Degree from an accredited institution.
• Be majoring in or having majored in a STEM Field
• Ability to work within a group of diversified individuals with varying backgrounds to achieve mission success
• Outstanding verbal and written communications skills, including ability to make persuasive presentations to external customers at milestone review
• Willingness and ability to support a 24/7 environment

Preferred Qualifications for both levels:

• Prior experience conducting on-orbit mission operations and resolving satellite and ground system anomalies highly preferred
• Experience related to STK/ODTK
• Experience writing technical documents for external customers
• Leadership experience within a diverse team of engineers/operators

Associate Salary Ranges: 69,400 - 104,000

Engineer Salary Ranges: 83,400 - 125,200

Primary Level Salary Range: $69,400.00 - $104,000.00
Secondary Level Salary Range: $83,400.00 - $125,200.00
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.