Principal or Sr Principal Engineer Systems

Company: Northrop Grumman
Location: San Diego
Posted on: April 1, 2026

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. Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is looking for well qualified Sr. Principal Systems Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Systems Engineering organization. This position is located in San Diego, CA. Selected candidate must be from a commutable distance from San Diego/ Rancho Bernardo CA. The selected candidate will be responsible for coordination and collaboration with diverse engineering design teams to provide imaginative, technical solutions to a wide range of difficult problems in establishing and managing the technical baseline in support of programmatic milestones. The selected candidate will assume an Integration role as part of the Systems Engineering Integration (SEI) team on the RQ-4 Enterprise. As part of day-to-day operations, the selected candidate will interface with various engineering functions and suppliers both internal and external to Northrop Grumman. The position requires system thinking and extensive knowledge of development life-cycle processes. Candidate must exhibit strong communication skills (written and oral) and support coordination cross-IPT toward the goal of an operationally validated integrated system. Essential Functions: Lead investigations to find root cause with regards to issues found in the field Evaluate anomalies, and assist with the disposition and correction of issues as found Evaluate software/logic-related findings in the field though the utilization of the lab environment Present technical recommendations to internal and external technical leadership Direct interaction with the customer with understanding their mission needs and flowing that information back to the engineering and leadership team. Perform requirements traceability for defects Develop, de-bug and execute Regression Verification Tests Perform hands-on Integration within Test environment Performs functional analysis, timeline analysis, detailed trade studies, requirements allocation and interface definition studies to translate customer requirements into hardware and software specifications. Basic Qualifications Principal Systems Engineer (Level 3): BS degree in a STEM discipline with 5 years engineering experience; MS degree in STEM discipline with 3 years engineering experience; PhD degree in a STEM Degree with 1 year engineering experience Interim DoD Secret Clearance for consideration Experience in integrating hardware and software Experience with briefing the customer and senior leadership Experience with root cause investigations Must have ability to obtain and maintain Program Access (PAR) within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company to meet its business needs Basic Qualifications Sr Principal System Engineer (Level 4): BS degree in a STEM discipline with 8 years engineering experience; MS degree in STEM discipline with 6 years engineering experience; PhD degree in a STEM discipline with 4 years of engineering experience Interim Secret DoD Secret Clearance for consideration Experience in integrating hardware and software Experience with briefing the customer and senior leadership Experience with root cause investigations Must have ability to obtain and maintain Program Access (PAR) within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company to meet its business needs Preferred Qualifications: Ability to obtain and maintain final DoD Secret Clearance Experience in full lifecycle of Systems Engineering, including requirements decomposition, test planning, and requirements verification Experience with formal requirement verification and decomposition Programming Skills in C/C++/Python/VBA Experience supporting field operations including maintenance and mission support Experience with fielded issues investigation Working knowledge of Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket) Demonstrated communication and technical writing skills ASSystEng We offer flexible work arrangements, 9/80 work schedule with every other Friday off, phenomenal learning opportunities, exposure to a wide variety of projects and customers, and a very friendly team environment. We are looking for self-motivated, proactive, and goal-oriented people to help us grow our services and become even better at what we do. Educational assistance is available to employees who want to continue to learn and develop skills/knowledge. Our educational assistance program supports employee development by providing resources such as: Tuition Savings at Accredited Schools: Access a network of accredited schools in a variety of locations (and online) to take advantage of reduced tuition costs and waived fees. Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) provide benefits for the member, our leaders and the company. Our ERGs offer opportunities to be a friend, be active, be a volunteer, be a leader, to be recognized and to be yourself. Every ERG is inclusive of all employees Primary Level Salary Range: $114,000.00 - $171,000.00 Secondary Level Salary Range: $142,000.00 - $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.

Keywords: Northrop Grumman, Fullerton , Principal or Sr Principal Engineer Systems, Engineering , San Diego, California