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Systems Engineer – R&V (Principal or Senior Principal)

San Diego, California, United States
Full Time On-site

Summary

Job Description

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.

Please note that this opportunity is contingent on program funding. Start dates are determined after funding confirmation.

Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems sector has an opening for a Systems Engineer (Principal or Senior Principal Level) - Requirements and Verification to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals in our Systems Engineering organization. This position is located in Rancho Bernardo, CA.

In this role, you will be part of the Core Systems Engineering team and will primarily focus on Requirements & Verification.

You will be part of the requirements development, analysis, decomposition and verification campaigns across the Triton Enterprise with a primary focus on Increment 2 development activities. You will perform use case analysis, system traces, architecture analysis and use the results of those analyses to ensure the Triton requirements baseline is rigorously defined and executable to the capabilities required of the platform.

Additionally, you will support diverse engineering design teams to provide imaginative, technical solutions to a wide range of difficult problems within the Core Systems Engineering team on the Triton Enterprise. This includes scope across the entire spectrum of the Systems Engineering V-Model. You will be executing system integration tasking across the entire lifecycle of a system and integrating new capabilities on the MQ-4C Triton platform.

Duties will include:

  • Support cross-IPT development of system level requirements and use cases
  • Implement requirements verification methodology and traceability
  • Support development of interface definitions and integration plans
  • Conduct formal integration and support capabilities based system level testing of fully integrated complex software and hardware subsystems
  • Evaluate integration and test anomalies and assist disposition and correction of issues as found
  • Perform requirements verification and selloff
  • Provide support to flight test and fielded assets
  • Manage configuration of developmental and production systems
  • Development of capability roadmaps within specified capability areas

This position can be filled at the Principal or Senior Principal level based on the qualifications below.

Basic Qualifications:

At a Principal Level:

  • Must have a Bachelors 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 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 experience generating, evaluating and decomposing requirements

Preferred Qualifications:

  • An active US Government Secret or higher clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
  • Demonstrated experience with customer level requirements definition
  • Familiarity with Systems Engineering V model and Design processes
  • Familiarity with TeamCenter PLC and JIRA/Confluence
  • Demonstrated experience with IFC Development and Management
  • Familiarity with requirements decomposition and verification campaigns
  • Demonstrated experience performing lab integration

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.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the United States, building advanced systems across space, air, land, sea, and cyber domains. The company is known for some of the most complex defense programs in the world, including stealth aircraft, autonomous systems, missile defense technologies, satellites, and space-based intelligence platforms that support U.S. national security operations.

For job seekers, Northrop Grumman offers careers across a wide range of high-impact fields including aerospace engineering, software development, cybersecurity, systems engineering, manufacturing, program management, and intelligence support. The company is especially attractive to veterans, cleared professionals, and engineers who want to work on mission-critical systems that directly support the Department of Defense and intelligence community. Many roles involve long-term programs with significant technical depth and real-world operational impact.

Unlike smaller defense startups focused on narrow capabilities, Northrop Grumman operates across multiple major mission areas, giving employees exposure to highly advanced programs such as stealth platforms, space systems, autonomous vehicles, and next-generation command-and-control systems. The company is also a major leader in classified space and intelligence systems, where cutting-edge engineering and secure infrastructure play a critical role in national defense.

As global competition in space, cyber, and advanced military systems continues to intensify, Northrop Grumman remains one of the most strategically important employers in the defense industry. For professionals seeking stable, highly technical careers with long-term impact on national security, Northrop Grumman continues to stand out as a leading destination in aerospace and defense.

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