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Posted June 13, 2026
Northrop Grumman

Systems Engineer (Principal or Senior Principal Level) - R10235419-2

Redondo Beach, CA, United States Full Time
$114000 - $171000
Reference: R10235419-2

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

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 Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal or Senior Principal level Systems Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Systems Engineering organization. This role may be located in Rancho Bernardo, CA, or El Segundo, CA.

This team is part of the Research and Advanced Development division working on exciting new next generation technologies. In this role, you will have the ability to shape multiple efforts to bring systems engineering rigor and traceability.


You will be an individual contributor who acts as the bridge between customer vision and a deliverable product, driving the entire requirements lifecycle from initial concept to verification. You'll develop, manage, and trace system requirements, translating CONOPS and customer needs into detailed specifications and allocating them to lower level subsystems.

The engineer leads interface definition, ensures proper decomposition and allocation of requirements, and creates verification and validation plans that guarantee each requirement is met. You'll support subsystem integration and testing activities, preparing engineering artifacts for key program reviews such as SRR, SFR, PDR, CDR, SVR, and TRR. Acting as a central communication hub, they coordinate with program managers, project leads, and subsystem teams to maintain alignment across the project and ensure that all requirements are documented, verified, and validated throughout the development process.


Responsibilities:

  • Support system requirements development, management, analysis, and traceability, to translate customer requirements and CONOPS into systems requirements, and further allocate to lower-level requirements.
  • Perform requirements development, allocation, verification/validation planning and manage interface definition efforts.
  • Support system/subsystems integration, test, and requirements verification activities.
  • Support the preparation of system engineering materials during System Requirements Review, System Functional Review, Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review, System Verification Review, Test Readiness Review, and other program reviews as needed.
  • Support interface/communication with program, functional and subsystem leads
  • Management of requirements, include decomposition, allocation, verification, and validation

This role can be filled at either the Principal or Senior Principal level based on the requirements below.

Basic Qualifications:

At a Principal Level:

  • Must have a Bachelors of Science degree in a STEM field and at least 5 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a Master's Degree in a STEM field and at least 3 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a PhD and at least 1 year of relevant military / professional / academic experience

At a Senior Principal Level:

  • Must have a Bachelors of Science degree in a STEM field and at least 8 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a Master's Degree in a STEM field and at least 6 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a PhD and at least 4 years of relevant military / professional experience

And at Both Levels:

  • Must have an active US Government Secret or higher clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
  • Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance within a reasonable amount of time as determined by the company.
  • Must have experience in systems engineering tools, such as DOORS, CAMEO.
  • Must have experience in aerospace/defense level avionics and unmanned aerial systems

Preferred Qualifications:

  • A current active or ability to obtain an DoD Top Secret clearance
  • Experience in Model-Based Systems Engineering approach.
  • Experience in integrating complex system across multiple domains
  • Experience demonstrating concepts to management and customers
  • Proficient with configuration management tools to maintain traceability of systems engineering artifacts

Primary Level Salary Range: $114,000.00 - $171,000.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $142,200.00 - $213,400.00

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.

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