{"id":2764554,"url":"https://alion.io/job/northrop-grumman-physicist-level-5","title":"Physicist - Level 5","company":{"id":12494,"name":"Northrop Grumman","domain":"northropgrumman.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/northropgrumman","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":87,"open_postings":528,"ghost_share":0.002,"stale_share":0.686,"repost_share":0.017,"time_to_fill_p50_days":13,"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Science & Research","role_family":"Science & Research","seniority":"staff","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Chandler, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":122800,"max":184200,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":184200},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":12,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-16T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-16","last_verified_at":"2026-10-17T07:49:04Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be availableCLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: NoCLEARANCE TYPE: NoneTRAVEL: NoDescription\nAt 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’s Space Sector is seeking a Physicist - Level 5 to join our team in Chandler, AZ.\nIn this role, you will;\nServe as a test and project engineering lead for rain erosion and lightning direct effects on aerospace materials and structures, working closely with senior survivability leadership to ensure test efforts are aligned with vehicle-level hardening strategies.\nThe successful candidate will: (1) design, plan, and execute material response tests at internal and external facilities; (2) synthesize test results into clear technical conclusions; and (3) translate those conclusions into survivability assessments and material/design recommendations. Strong materials science fundamentals and experience with extreme military launch vehicle flight environments are essential to understanding and explaining test outcomes.\nKey Responsibilities\nEvaluate materials for use in extreme aerospace environments including lightning, flight heating, and supersonic/hypersonic rain.\nDesign, plan, execute, and report on rain erosion and lightning direct effects tests.\nInterface with external test facilities and suppliers to define scope, develop/review procedures, witness tests as needed, and resolve \nIndependently synthesize test results into clear technical conclusions and communicate those conclusions to non-specialist stakeholders (program leadership, systems engineering, suppliers).\nLead a team consisting of both junior engineers/scientists and senior/Fellow-level contributors, maintaining focus on objectives while encouraging technical input.\nGuard against scope creep, keep complex efforts on task, and ensure that tests/analyses align with program schedules and priorities.\nProduce clear, consistent documentation that can be understood and built upon by others years later.\nBasic Qualifications\nBachelor’s degree with 12 years of experience, master's degree with 10 years of experience or Ph.D. with 10 years of experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, or related technical fields. \nU.S. citizenship \nAbility to obtain US Government Secret security clearance \n Demonstrated experience working hands-on with test campaigns (planning, sample fabrication, execution, data review, reporting), not just analysis or paper studies.\n Strong project engineering skills with multiple demonstrated examples of driving technical projects to completion. Ability to build rapport/confidence with leadership, peers, and support staff to get the job done.\nDemonstrated ability to maintain technical rigor under aggressive schedule pressure.\nHighly structured, focused, and methodical thinker with strong organizational skills.\nBackground in materials science, especially structural/thermal aerospace materials.\nBasic understanding of how materials respond to military launch vehicle flight environments.\nStrong written and verbal communication skills; ability to work collaboratively in team environments.\nPreferred Qualifications\nAdvanced degree (MS or PhD) in physics, electrical engineering, materials science, or mechanical engineering.\nActive Secret or Top Secret security clearance is highly preferred.\nFamiliarity with MIL-HDBK-310, MIL-STD-464, SAE-ARP-5412/5414, NASA-STD-4003, and RTCA DO-160. Experience interpreting industry standards to develop test levels.\nExperience planning and executing subsonic and supersonic rain erosion material response tests (e.g. SuRE, HHSTT), especially in the areas of material selection, specimen design, test matrix development, and post-test damage assessment.\nExperience planning and executing direct effects lightning material response tests, both arc entry and conducted current, with deep knowledge in grounding, fixturing, pre-test damage predictions, and post-test damage analysis/classification.\nExperience performing rain erosion and/or lightning detonation impulse modeling, especially hydrocode and/or G-law modeling. Ability to critically compare model predictions with test observations and adjust assumptions accordingly.\nExperience with high heat flux material response testing at both low and high shear (e.g. LHMEL, AEDC).\nExperience with dynamic material response characterization testing (gas gun and/or electron beam), especially in the areas of specimen design, instrumentation, and data interpretation.\nExperience with particle and fiber-reinforced matrix materials, refractory metals and ceramic coatings. Ability to relate microstructure and other fundamentals to macroscopic response to extreme flight environments.\nWorking knowledge of shock physics, especially in the areas of shock Hugoniot and/or stress wave propagation in shocked materials.\nCurious about all the exciting developments with the Northrop Grumman Space Sector? Click the link below:\nhttps://www.northropgrumman.com/space\nWorking at Northrop Grumman is more than just a paycheck. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive at work and in life. For more information on our Total Rewards package, please visit our Total Rewards site.\nNorthrop Grumman Total Rewards\n#SPEnhancedERAP\nPrimary Level Salary Range: $122,800.00 - $184,200.00The 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.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7617,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":12,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Annual bonuses","Health insurance","Insurance coverage","Relocation assistance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Aerospace Manufacturing","Satellite Manufacturing","C4ISR","Space Defense"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-17T03:31:05Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":63,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.632,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":13,"reasons":["conf:2","stale_co","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":184200,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/northrop-grumman-physicist-level-5","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/northrop-grumman-physicist-level-5.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-17T18:14:23Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":925,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-18T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":12494},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=12494"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fnorthrop-grumman-physicist-level-5"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fnorthrop-grumman-physicist-level-5"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fnorthrop-grumman-physicist-level-5"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/northrop-grumman-physicist-level-5\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fnorthrop-grumman-physicist-level-5"}]}