Radiation Science Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be availableCLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: YesCLEARANCE TYPE: SCITRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the TimeDescriptionAt 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 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 Systems Sector is seeking a Radiation & Survivability Engineering NG Fellow 1 to join our team. This role can be located at any of our major Northrop Grumman locations within the continental United States, and the position requires the work to be conducted onsite at one or more of these locations. These major worksite locations include (but are not limited to):Redondo Beach, CA; Azusa, CA; Gilbert, AZ; Aurora, CO; Huntsville, AL; and Dulles, VA along with others across the continental United States. The selected individual will play an instrumental role in developing, evolving, and leading technological strategy in this skill area for the broader organization.

Northrop Grumman Fellows are recognized experts in their fields who solve the hardest technical problems while ensuring we retain the hard-won insights needed to perform complex tasks successfully. These leaders define possible in our most important technical capability areas while identifying and cultivating essential people, processes, and tools. They are deployed against critical programs and captures, aligned with our sector's top business priorities, and advance our products and solutions to meet customers' missions every day.

The ideal candidate will set and drive strategy for a broad set of technical initiatives and be empowered to make decisions that significantly impact annual operating plans (AOP), long-range strategic plan (LRSP) outcomes, and the Technology Roadmap. The Northrop Grumman Fellow is expected to provide scientific, technical, intellectual leadership, as well as analytical support contributing to the advancement of growth goals. The candidate must also have a strong grasp of campaign execution, networking strategy, and possess the skills, drive, and judgement to successfully interface with senior leaders/technologists across the company and customer community.

The Radiation & Survivability Engineering Fellow is the enterprise authority for space radiation effects, nuclear hardness & survivability, and system hardening. The Fellow will shape and enforce program execution strategy, define enterprise technical standards, and drive the development of cutting-edge methodologies sector-wide. The Fellow will interface with and engage on programs sector-wide to ensure mission-critical electronics, materials, and systems can survive and operate in natural space radiation and nuclear hardness & survivability-related environments.

This senior role requires deep expertise in total ionizing dose (TID), single event effects (SEE), displacement damage (DD), Prompt Dose, System Generated EMP (SGEMP), neutron effects, Micrometeoroids and Orbital Debris (MMOD), Atomic Oxygen (ATOX) effects, and emerging threat domains in space and nuclear attack scenarios. The Fellow will be pivotal in establishing standardized sector practice, assisting in evaluation and negotiation of process development and tool use across various regions nationwide. The Fellow will act as the primary technical liaison with customers, government agencies, national laboratories, and industry/academic partners, influencing standards and guiding long-range technology investments that provide strategic capability and agility for the Space Systems sector and the broader enterprise.

*This position is contingent upon the candidate obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company. Continued employment thereafter will be subject to maintenance of the level of clearance and program access required for the position in the future.

Job responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Leadership Skills

-Strong stakeholder management skills, including presenting solutions to senior leadership.

-Experience in leading organizational change and ensuring successful adoption of new technologies and best practices.

-Experience mentoring junior engineers and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

-Ability to influence and gain buy-in from key stakeholders, ensuring alignment and successful project delivery.

Technical Authority & Standards

-Serve as the recognized enterprise authority in radiation effects, nuclear hardness & survivability, and system hardening.

-Maintain current knowledge of evolving space and nuclear threats and their impact on electronics, materials, and systems.

-Establish technical standards, best practices, and acceptance criteria for Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA).

-Guide selection and application of advanced test methodologies (heavy ion, proton, pulsed-laser SEE, combined-environment testing, etc.).

-Integrate multi-physics understanding, including device physics, materials science, system architecture, environment modeling.

Investigation & Innovation

-Lead root-cause investigations for anomalous radiation-induced failures at the system and mission level.

-Resolve novel, high-consequence survivability challenges where little or unstandardized precedent exists (e.g., COTS use in nuclear environments).

-Develop new methodologies to predict system-level radiation performance from limited or nonideal data.

-Identify systemic vulnerabilities across architectures and drive mitigation strategies early in the lifecycle.

-Balance conflicting constraints such as limited test availability, cost pressures, and aggressive schedules.

-Anticipate emerging failure modes from new technologies (advanced nodes, AI hardware, heterogeneous integration).

Decision Making & Risk Management

-Exercise independent technical judgment on critical survivability decisions with mission-level consequences.

-Determine acceptable risk postures for programs when data is incomplete.

-Advise senior leadership on go/nogo decisions related to radiation qualification and mission readiness.

-Navigate sensitive or classified environments involving nuclear survivability requirements.

-Prioritize enterprise investments in radiation testing, modeling, and infrastructure.

-Balance technical rigor versus practicality across mission classes and customer expectations.

Strategy & Influence

-Set and drive sector-wide strategy for radiation and nuclear survivability engineering.

-Lead, define, and institutionalize radiation survivability design frameworks across mission classes (e.g., ClassA-D rigor tailoring).

-Influence industry standards and policy (e.g., MILSTD development, standards bodies).

-Shape long-range technology investments, including internal radiation labs, test capabilities, and modeling tools.

External Representation & Partnerships

-Act as the primary technical liaison with customers, government agencies, national labs, and industry partners.

-Represent the organization at key external forums (NSREC, HEART, RADECS, SEE/SOCs, DoW/NASA working groups).

-Lead and participate in cross-sector enterprise initiatives (RSE Community of Practice, USG SRHEC working groups, database development, etc.).

-Build strategic partnerships with academia and research institutions (e.g., SCALE Workforce Development Program universities).

Basic Qualifications for NG Fellow 1:

-Bachelor's Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 20+ years of engineering experience OR

-Master's Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 18+ years of engineering experience OR

-PhD in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 15+ years of engineering experience

-Demonstrated expertise in TID, SEE, DD, prompt dose, SGEMP, neutron effects, and/or related phenomena, including hands-on test execution and data analysis.

-Demonstrated success managing technical performers or teams.

-Candidate must be a U.S. Citizen and have active SCI access with a Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) completed within the last 5 years, at time of application, and prior to start date OR

-Candidate must be a U.S. Citizen and have an active U.S. Government Top Secret security clearance (or equivalent) with a Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) completed within the last 5 years, at time of application, and prior to start date as well as the ability to obtain and maintain active SCI access within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company. Continued employment thereafter will be subject to the candidate's maintenance of the level of clearance and program access required for the position in the future.

-Additionally, the candidate must have the willingness and ability to be cleared to SAPs/PARs within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company. Continued employment thereafter will be subject to the candidate's maintenance of the level of clearance and program access required for the position in the future.

Preferred Qualifications for NG Fellow 1:

-Bachelor's Degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a closely related discipline with a focus on radiation effects or nuclear survivability

-Familiarity with emerging technology risk (advanced semiconductor nodes, AI accelerators, heterogeneous integration).

-Deep understanding of advanced test methods (heavy ion, proton, pulsed-laser SEE, combined-environment).

-Ability to synthesize multi-physics data (device physics, materials, system architecture) into actionable engineering guidance.

-Excellent judgment in risk assessment and decision-making under data-limited conditions.

-Strategic thinking with the capability to influence standards bodies and shape longterm technology roadmaps.

-Outstanding communication skills-able to convey bespoke, complex technical concepts to senior leadership, customers, and external partners.

-Proven leadership in community-building activities (e.g., working groups, societies, academic collaborations).

-Proven track record of leading root-cause investigations and delivering mitigation strategies for complex, mission-critical systems.

-Direct involvement with MILSTD development or other defense-related standards.

-Experience managing or scaling radiation test facilities and modeling toolsets.

-Prior service as a technical liaison with NASA, U.S. Government, or other relevant national laboratory programs.

-Strong publication record or patents in radiation effects, system hardening, or related fields is a plus.

-Active U.S. Government Top Secret security clearance (or equivalent) clearance with active SCI access at time of application and prior to start date

-Has or previously had SAPs/PARs.

*This position is contingent upon the candidate obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company. Continued employment thereafter will be subject to maintenance of the level of clearance and program access required for the position in the future.

Curious about all the exciting developments with the Northrop Grumman Space Sector? Click the link below:

https://www.northropgrumman.com/space.

Working 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: Northrop Grumman Total Rewards

As a full-time employee of Northrop Grumman, you are eligible for:

-Medical, Dental & Vision coverage

-401k

-Educational Assistance

-Life Insurance

-Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions

-Paid Time Off

-Health & Wellness Resources

-Employee Discounts

-Flexible Schedules:for example, the ability to work a 9/80 work schedule, which allows an employee to work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday and take every other Friday off of work.

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Primary Level Salary Range: $179,400.00 - $328,900.00The 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...