Sr. Principal Engineer Systems/Staff Engineer Systems

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.

The Northrop Grumman Mission Systems Sector is a trusted provider of mission-enabling solutions for global security.  Our Engineering and Sciences (E&S) organization pushes the boundaries of innovation, redefines engineering capabilities, and drives advances in various sciences. Our team is chartered with providing the skills, innovative technologies to develop, design, produce and sustain optimized product lines across the sector while providing a decisive advantage to the warfighter.

The System Engineer will have an in-depth system engineering background to include experience with RF or EW or RADAR. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate that enjoys learning and solving problems. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work on complex electronic warfare systems alongside a multi-disciplinary team. We are looking for an individual that is passionate, driven, a self-starter, and goal oriented.

The Joint Electronic Attack Compatibility Office (JEACO) of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division (NAWC-WD), Pt. Mugu CA has an opening for a System Engineer.  The system engineering work is for the Intrepid Tiger II (IT II) Family of Systems (FoS) Electronic Warfare (EW) pods that currently addresses communication threats.  The JEACO IT II FoS systems provide adaptable, distributed and networked electronic warfare capability for fixed wing and rotary wing USMC aircraft.  A new IT II FoS variant is in development that will address radar threats. 

Roles & responsibilities:

This Senior Systems Engineer would be one of the technical leads for the development of USMC Electronic Warfare (EW) systems.  System development would mainly address hardware, but could include some software as well.  Primary duties would include:

• Following supplied USMC operational requirements and architecture framework (DoDAF) for system development.
• Guide and review the development of system requirements.
• Generate new system architectures and design (power, RF, and functional block diagrams).
• Ensuring adherence to appropriate military standards via system requirements, design, and test (MIL-STD-461 (EMI), MIL-STD-464 (EMC), MIL-STD-704 (power), MIL-STD-810 (environmental), MIL-STD-882 (safety), MIL-STD-1250 and MIL-STD-7179 (corrosion), MIL-STD-1289 and MIL-STD-8591 (aircraft stores),  and MIL-STD-1472 (human factors)).
• Oversee, support, and review system thermal, safety, and reliability analyses.
• Ensuring through design the protection of Critical Program Information (CPI).
• Ensure through design USMC supportability and maintainability of the system.
• Ensuring proper system cooling and safety through design and feedback from analyses and prototype operation.
• Research and select appropriate COTS components for system development based on system performance requirements, size, weight, and power constraints, etc.
• Support system prototyping at the bench level, in order to technically evaluate potential COTS components for use in the under-development system.
• Configure the system and validate the configuration of systems prior to deployment (hardware, configuration file settings, network IP addresses, and set up of communication and encryption devices).
• Support the identification, documentation, and mitigation of program risks per the Navy’s risk management process.
• Review all electro-mechanical system drawings.  Submit technically complete drawings to Navy management for approval.
• Oversee integration testing of system incremental releases.
• Troubleshoot system failures and performance issues.  Coordinate other system development roles (test, logistics, production, quality assurance, software, etc.) in troubleshooting efforts.
• Support the use of key processes, such as the configuration management for system changes after the system baseline is established.  Review all system Change Requests (CRs) and provide technical recommendation for CR disposition.
• Support test’s evaluation of system performance in the lab.  Operate the system and test equipment to evaluate functional and RF performance against requirements.
• Support the development and maintenance of program plans (e.g., the Systems Engineering Plan (SEP)) and the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS).
• Collate technical data in response to program sponsor data calls.
• Be the technical lead supporting Navy management a) at design and program management reviews, and b) with all system development critical decisions.
• Review system design documentation and operational checklists, procedures, user manuals, training materials, and other technical publications for technical accuracy and completeness.
• Mentoring and guiding junior engineers.

Basic Qualifications for a Sr Principal System Engineer:

• Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) discipline with 9 or more years engineering experience. Master of Science degree in a STEM discipline with 7 or more years of experience, or an additional 6 years of experience may be considered in lieu of a Degree.
• Ability to travel
• Candidate must have excellent communication skills and be able to work in a self-directed manner
• US citizen with a Secret clearance [Top Secret preferred]
• Experience with Ethernet and TCP/IP
• Experience using mechanical and electrical drawings
• Experience with component selection for system development
• Must be able to demonstrate proven leadership capabilities in the area of Systems Engineering
• Ability to work on own initiative
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to work well in a close team environment Experience with Agile software development
• Experience with Windows and Linux operating systems
• Experience troubleshooting & solving problems and strong desire to understand how the system works
• Ability to work under pressure while maintaining a calm, patient demeanor in front of the customer.

Basic Qualifications for a Staff System Engineer:

• Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) discipline with 14 or more years engineering experience.  Master of Science degree in a STEM discipline with 12 or more years of experience, or an additional 6 years of experience may be considered in lieu of a Degree.
• Ability to travel.
• Candidate must have excellent communication skills and be able to work in a self-directed manner
• US citizen with a Secret clearance [Top Secret preferred]
• Experience with Ethernet and TCP/IP
• Experience using mechanical and electrical drawings
• Experience with component selection for system development
• Must be able to demonstrate proven leadership capabilities in the area of Systems Engineering
• Ability to work on own initiative
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to work well in a close team environment Experience with Agile software development
• Experience with Windows and Linux operating systems
• Experience troubleshooting & solving problems and a strong desire to understand how the system works
• Ability to work under pressure while maintaining a calm, patient demeanor in front of the customer.

Preferred Qualifications for both levels:

• Knowledge of Electronic Warfare principles 
• Familiarity with Agile Development Methodology
• Familiarity with Atlassian software development and collaboration tool set (Jira and Confluence)
• Experience with RF receiver and RF jamming, software defined radios, and encryption systems
• Experience working with RF test equipment
• Experience with concurrent hardware and software development
• Experience with military aircraft avionics and/or stores
• Familiarity with referenced military standards
• Familiarity with aircraft safety, supportability, maintainability, and reliability disciplines

Salary Range: $129,700 USD - $194,500 USD

Salary Range 2: $161,000 USD - $241,400 USD

Employees may be eligible for 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 health and safety of our employees and their families is a top priority. The company encourages employees to remain up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations. U.S. Northrop Grumman employees may be required, in the future, to be vaccinated or have an approved disability/medical or religious accommodation, pursuant to future court decisions and/or government action on the currently stayed federal contractor vaccine mandate under Executive Order 14042 https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/contractors/.

Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action 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/AA and Pay Transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for most positions.