Philip A. Teel, who oversaw the rebuilding of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems after Hurricane Katrina and shepherded the shipbuilder through a 2007 strike, will head up the company’s high-tech Mission Systems in Virginia.

In a reorganization, Northrop’s shipyards in Pascagoula and Gulfport and Avondale, La., will join with the Newport News, Va., yard and become Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.

C. Michael Petters, president of the Newport News yard, will lead the new and larger shipbuilding sector.

Northrop spokesman Dan McClain said Monday that Petters will come to Pascagoula and work during the coming year of transition for the sector. That’s when he will decide whether shipbuilding will be headquartered in Newport News or Pascagoula.

Teel, 59, joined Northrop Grumman in 2000 and has background in the area of complex network systems that is Mission Systems and will begin work April 1 in Reston, Va., where that portion of the corporation is located. The technology that Mission Systems produces is applied on the ground, aboard ships, in aircraft and in space, McClain said.

The missiles portion of Mission Systems will break away and report to the Space Technology Sector. The $900 million missile business employs approximately 750 people and has operations in Utah, Alabama, Virginia, and California.

In a statement Monday, the company called these moves a strategic realignment and said it doesn’t plan on closing any shipyards or having a significant reduction in shipyard employment.

The company said Teel will replace Jerry B. Agee, who is retiring in August.

Petters, 48, joined Newport News in 1987 in the submarine construction division. His assignments have included nuclear ship design and construction, contracts, personnel and management of the shipbuilding trades. He was elected corporate vice president and president in 2004.