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Associate Structural Engineer

Northrop Grumman

Plymouth, MNJob$73–109K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$73–109K/yr
Location
Plymouth, MN
Work Authorization
US work authorization required

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Requirements

Credentials this posting asks for.

Secret clearance, required

Job overview

Northrop Grumman seeks an Associate Structural Engineer to support smart weapons systems development in Plymouth, Minnesota. The role applies thermal and structural analysis tools, including finite element methods, to mechanical design and product development. The engineer works with subject matter experts to formulate analysis approaches, evaluate materials and models, interpret results, and recommend design improvements. Aerothermal analysis with CFD tools is desired.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Steady-State Thermal Analysis, requiredTransient Thermal Analysis, requiredANSYS, requiredLinear Implicit FEA, requiredNonlinear Implicit FEA, requiredStatic FEA, requiredTime-Dependent FEA, requiredABAQUS, requiredAerothermal Heating Analysis, nice to haveCFD, nice to haveExplicit Structural FEA, nice to haveComposite Component FEA, nice to have

Qualifications

Bachelor's in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering Plus 0-2 Years or Master's Plus 0 Years, requiredU.S. Citizenship, requiredAbility to Obtain Security Clearance, requiredActive DoD Secret Clearance, nice to have

Benefits

Relocation Assistance
Medical Insurance
401(k) Match
Paid Time Off

Full job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

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.

Northrop Grumman is seeking an Associate Structural Engineer for our location in Plymouth, MN.

The development of smart armament systems, designed to increase the competitive advantage of our armed forces, is accelerating. This has increased the need for an analyst who has a passion for technology development, paired with demonstrated expertise in design excellence. This team member will drive to continually outperform the competition and exceed customer expectations while acting with integrity, loyalty, and respect.

As an Associate Structural Engineer the analyst will utilize thermal and structures analysis tools to aid the Armament Systems design team with the development of smart weapons systems. Analytical support of the mechanical design process typically requires any number of finite element analysis approaches. The candidate shall be able to assess the design problem, work with the Subject Matter Expert to formulate an analysis approach and utilize a suite of tools to aid in the design development. Any number of solution types such as static structural and other implicit dynamic solution types such as modal, harmonic, spectrum and random vibration, may be required to support the entire design life cycle.

In addition to structural analysis, thermal loads often need to be considered. The thermal loading can have a variety of sources including electronic components, aero heating from hypersonic ballistic applications. Performing or assisting the aero-heating analysis with CFD tools is desired.

Experience with metallic and conventional molded plastic materials and knowledge of molded and wound fiber reinforced plastics and their modeling would be a desired. Reinforced plastic analysis experience with application to printed circuit boards a plus.

Responsibilities:

  • Work with our Subject Matter Experts to develop a finite element analysis approach and solution to our thermal and structural problems based upon an understanding of the technical principals and determine the analysis type and tools required to evaluate a wide variety of numerical modeling problems which utilize a variety of materials including composites.

  • Required workflow includes the development of structural models, meshing, selection of boundary conditions and constraints, selection of applicable material properties, selection of proper simulation code and methodology, interpretation of analytical results, and recommendation for design improvements.

  • Support innovation by applying the most effective analysis technology to new smart munition product development.

  • Become part of the product team and form close working relationships by understanding the whole system function and presenting solutions and design direction to the design community in an insightful and timely manner.

Basic Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering plus 0 - 2 years of relevant experience performing in a structural engineering position;Or master’s degree plus 0 years of experience

  • Steady state and transient thermal analysis using ANSYS.

  • Linear and non-linear implicit, static and time dependent FEA using ANSYS or ABAQUS.

  • U.S. Citizenship

  • Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.

Desired Qualifications

  • Aerothermal heating analysis of flight vehicles.

  • Use of CFD tools to determine the aerothermal heating parameters to use in subsequent aerothermal flight vehicle analysis.

  • Linear and non-linear explicit, time dependent structural FEA.

  • Fiber reinforced composite component finite element analysis.

  • Active DoD Secret Clearance

Primary Level Salary Range: $72,700.00 - $109,100.00

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.

Job Category: Engineering

How this job compares

Set against the 3,285 open Structural Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 12, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$73–109K/yr
  • Minnesota median$88–132K/yr73 salary ranges
  • US median$105–160K/yr2,128 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $91K, is 18% below the Minnesota median midpoint ($111K) — in the lowest quarter of Structural Engineer salary ranges in Minnesota.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 80 open Structural Engineer jobs in Minnesota and 3,285 across the US. 4% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Minnesota
Experience
This posting asks for no prior experience — less than three in four Structural Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for (median 7 years, across 2,855 postings).
Education
2,336 of the 3,285 open Structural Engineer jobs (71%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 12, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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