2026 Associate Engineer Quality/ Engineer Quality - Rolling Meadows IL

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the TimeDescription

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.

At the heart of Defining Possible is our commitment to missions. In rapidly changing global security environments, Northrop Grumman brings informed insights and software-secure technology to enable strategic planning. We’re looking for innovators who can help us keep building on our wide portfolio of secure, affordable, integrated, and multi-domain systems and technologies that fuel those missions. By joining in our shared mission, we’ll support yours of expanding your personal network and developing skills, whether you are new to the field or an industry thought-leader. At Northrop Grumman, you’ll have the resources, support, and team to do some of the best work of your career.

Northrop Grumman is seeking an Associate Quality Engineer/Quality Engineer. This position will be located at our Mission Systems Sector in Rolling Meadows, IL.

The qualified candidate will become part of Northrop Grumman’s Multidomain Sensing, Targeting and Survivability Division, Electronic Warfare Targeting Business Unit.   

• Develop, modify, apply, and maintain quality evaluation, control systems, and protocols for processing materials into semi-finished or finished products. 

• Partner with engineering and manufacturing to establish and uphold quality standards.  

• Design, analyze, and implement inspection and testing processes and equipment; conduct quality assurance tests, perform statistical analyses to determine cost and responsibility for non-conforming parts. 

• Audit quality systems, identify deficiencies, and drive corrective actions that meet reliability standards and documentation requirements.  

• Review contracts/SOWs/drawings to evaluate, interpret and apply company policies, ISO 9000, AS9102, MIL, IPC, and other standards applicable to designs and processes.

• Identify and remove barriers to quality improvement through root‑cause analysis and corrective‑action planning.

• Interface with production‑floor roles (inspection, assembly, operations) and communicate clearly with all stakeholders.

• Define, classify, and control quality characteristics for products, processes, and services; develop and validate control plans and work‑instruction updates.

• Manage nonconformances across the facility, lead cross‑functional containments, to ensure product compliance.

• Use and interpret quality‑control tools (flowcharts, Pareto, control charts) and apply benchmarking to drive system‑wide improvements.

• Interpret technical drawings and specifications, including GD&T symbols, to verify compliance with design requirements

• Facilitate team collaboration using brainstorming, conflict‑resolution, and other facilitation techniques.

• May specialize in design, incoming material, production control, product evaluation, reliability, inventory control, or R&D as they apply to product or process quality.  

• Interpret technical drawings and specifications, including GD&T symbols, to verify compliance with design requirements 

Basic Qualifications: 

A candidate must meet ALL of the below criteria. The candidate must:

• Associate Quality Engineer: Bachelor of Science Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field with a minimum of 0 year of engineering experience in Quality Assurance which can include investigating failures and identifying root causes, or Manufacturing, Process, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineering field of work performing technical job functions; OR a Masters Degree in a STEM field with a minimum of 0 years experience.

• Quality Engineer: Bachelor of Science Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field with a minimum of 2 years of engineering experience in Quality Assurance, which can include investigating failures and identifying root causes or in Manufacturing, Process, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineering field of work performing technical job functions; OR a Masters Degree in a STEM field with a minimum of 0 years of engineering experience.

• Be able to obtain a U.S. Government security clearance (U.S. citizenship is a pre-requisite)

• The ability to obtain Special Access Program within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company to meet its business needs 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Have an overall cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0 or higher

• Lean Six Sigma certification. 

• Certified IPC Specialist (CIS) – IPC‑A‑610

• Certified IPC Specialist (CIS) – IPC/WHMA‑A‑620

• Strong familiarity with quality standards and engineering methodologies.

• Experience with product and process quality systems.  

• Proficiency in data and statistical analysis.  

• Ability to read and interpret technical drawings and specifications. 

• SAP Experience 

• Experience with CADSTAR and/or MPLM drawings 

• Experience with (Root Cause Corrective Action) RCCA 

• Certified auditor

• SPC Experience 

• Experience with at least one of the following standards (IPC, J-Std, MIL-STD)  

• Active DoD Secret Clearance 

• Experience using Microsoft Excel, Minitab or equivalent tools for statistical analysis. 

• Knowledge of modern skillsets such as Artificial Intelligence, SQL, Power BI to aid in data analysis and data visualization 

Salary Range:

Bachelors - $66,200.00 to $99,200.00

Masters - $79,600.00 to $119,400.00

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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.