Director Business Development Operational Excellence

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 25% 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.

The Director, Business Development Operational Excellence serves as the operational deputy to the Corporate Vice President & Chief Global Business Development Officer (CVP), enabling execution of the organization’s strategic growth priorities through operational excellence, governance, and organizational effectiveness.

Working in close partnership with the CVP, this role translates strategy into execution by driving business operating rhythms, optimizing business development processes, strengthening cross-functional collaboration, and ensuring consistent execution across the Business Development organization. The Director serves as a trusted advisor, providing strategic insight, operational leadership, and executive-level coordination to support enterprise growth objectives.

This leader is responsible for fostering scalable, measurable, and data-driven business operations while promoting a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and collaboration across a geographically dispersed organization. As the deputy to the CVP, the Director represents Business Development leadership in cross-functional forums, helps shape strategic priorities, and ensures alignment between enterprise initiatives and day-to-day execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the operational deputy and strategic thought partner to the Corporate Vice President & Chief Global Business Development Officer.
• Translate strategic priorities into executable operational plans and measurable business outcomes.
• Coordinate executive business rhythms, governance processes, and leadership operating cadence across the Business Development organization.
• Prepare executive-level analyses, recommendations, and briefing materials to support strategic decision-making.
• Act on behalf of the Corporate Vice President, as delegated, ensuring continuity of leadership, decision-making, and organizational execution.
• Represent the CVP in executive meetings and cross-functional initiatives, as appropriate.

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives that simplify business development processes, improve execution, and eliminate operational inefficiencies utilizing Lean, Six Sigma, and other operational excellence methodologies.
• Establish and maintain standardized business development processes, governance models, and operating procedures that enable consistency and scalability.
• Drive adoption of automation, digital tools, and analytics to improve operational effectiveness and organizational performance.
• Develop and monitor performance metrics and dashboards to measure organizational effectiveness, capture health, business development productivity, and return on investment.

• Partner with Business Development leaders to strengthen opportunity management, capture execution, and Position-to-Win (PTW) processes throughout the Business Acquisition Process (BAP).
• Support competitive assessments, market analysis, customer engagement strategies, and resource prioritization to enable informed investment decisions.
• Oversee business development operational planning, resource allocation analyses, organizational reviews, and strategic planning activities.
• Ensure business development activities are executed in accordance with corporate policies, government regulations, and customer requirements.

• Partner across Global Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, Program Management, Mission Assurance, Finance, Communications, and Risk Management to drive enterprise alignment and execution.
• Collaborate with sector and division Business Development teams to promote consistency, knowledge sharing, and enterprise best practices.
• Lead strategic initiatives that improve collaboration across the enterprise while supporting long-term growth objectives.

• Foster a high-performing, inclusive culture centered on collaboration, innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Coach and develop leaders while strengthening organizational capability and operational maturity.
• Champion employee engagement and organizational effectiveness across geographically dispersed teams.

Expertise Needed

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 15 years of progressive leadership experience in Business Development, Business Operations, Strategy, or a related discipline within the Aerospace & Defense industry.
• Demonstrated experience supporting senior executives and leading enterprise-wide operational initiatives.
• Extensive knowledge of Department of Defense acquisition, government contracting, and the Aerospace & Defense market.
• Experience driving operational excellence through Lean, Six Sigma, or similar continuous improvement methodologies.
• Exceptional executive communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven ability to influence across highly matrixed organizations and build strong cross-functional partnerships.
• Experience leading large-scale strategic initiatives and organizational transformation efforts.
• Strong analytical and business acumen with the ability to translate data into executive recommendations.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Security Clearance.

Primary Level Salary Range: $242,100.00 - $363,100.00

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.