Principal / Senior Principal Engineer Modeling Simulation / Operations Research – Advanced Programs – Future Concepts – (AHT)

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.

Want to solve complex problems at the “napkin sketch” level by creating cutting-edge, complex-systems that need to operate in the harshest of conditions?

Join Northrop Grumman’s Advanced Programs (Future Concepts) on our continued mission to push the boundaries of possible across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace.

Enjoy a culture where your voice is valued and start contributing to our team of passionate professionals providing real-life solutions to our world’s biggest challenges.

We take pride in creating purposeful work and allowing our employees to grow and achieve their goals every day by Defining Possible.

With our competitive pay and comprehensive benefits, we have the right opportunities to fit your life and launch your career today.

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems is looking for a Principal / Sr. Principal Systems Modeling & Simulation Engineer to support the Advanced Programs - Future Concepts Team in Northridge, CA.

Our work influences the investment decisions of our senior leadership and customer program offices. The Modeling and Simulation discipline itself is a mesh of many other fields (e.g. Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Software Engineering, etc.) and frequently collaborates across functional disciplines, offering a unique opportunity to obtain a broad understanding of many areas or to more narrowly focus on developing a deep expertise in any one of the relevant fields.

In this role, you will be a member of a small, cross-functional team. The team performs the following tasks: model development, scenario creation, designing focused vignette threads and performing analysis.

The analysis includes a wide variety of system types and spans multiple domains (friendly and adversary; ground, maritime, air and space).

This drives the development of clean-sheet requirements, refinement of existing program system requirements, and influences the pursuit of future technologies and capabilities.

You will work with air vehicle and subsystem engineers, as well as with program and customer leadership, to recommend candidate designs, and to develop Concepts of Operation (CONOPs) and Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) at the system, mission, and campaign levels.

The selected candidate will be responsible for developing new and / or integrating existing system simulation frameworks, performance models and algorithms, threat models and command and control models.

Essential Functions:

• Develop and translate friendly / adversary tactics into mission-level models such as AFSIM and Suppressor

• Perform operational analysis and mission effectiveness analysis

• Participate in Agile project framework

• Model operational environments, performs trade studies via computer simulation, and recommends alternative architectures

• Perform mission engineering activities to ensure continuity between desired operational capabilities and delivered system performance, through the Systems Engineering V

• Ensure performance capabilities of new systems and architectures are traded against cost and mission requirements; develop mission relevant scenarios; assess operational effectiveness of existing and emerging systems and capabilities in representative operational environments

• Solicit input from various stakeholders, synthesize data, and communicate results to various levels of leadership within the organization

• Develop software to model behavior of systems in real-time and constructive simulations

• Develop, integrate, and use advanced graphical user interfaces and visualization tools

This position may be filled as a level 3 (T03) or a level 4 (T04). Basic qualifications for each level are listed below.

Basic Qualifications for a Principal Modeling and Simulation Engineer (T03) are:

• High school diploma/GED and a minimum of 9+ years of experience in modeling, simulation, and analysis of Aerospace Systems, Systems Analysis, and Design.

• BS in Computer Science, Engineering, Math, or Physics AND 5+ years modeling, simulation, and analysis of Aerospace Systems, Systems Analysis, and Design, OR

• MS in Computer Science, Engineering, Math, or Physics AND 3+ years modeling, simulation, and analysis of Aerospace Systems, Systems Analysis, and Design

• Current/active U.S Government issued DoD Secret Clearance; clearance must have been issued/adjudicated in the past five (5) years

Basic Qualifications for a Senior Principal Modeling and Simulation Engineer (T04) are:

• High school diploma/GED and a minimum of 13+ years of experience in modeling, simulation, and analysis of Aerospace Systems, Systems Analysis, and Design, OR

• BS in Computer Science, Engineering, Math, or Physics AND 9+ years modeling, simulation, and analysis of Aerospace Systems, Systems Analysis, and Design, OR

• MS in Computer Science, Engineering, Math, or Physics AND 7+ years modeling, simulation, and analysis of Aerospace Systems, Systems Analysis, and Design, OR

• PhD. Computer Science, Engineering, Math, or Physics AND 4+ years modeling, simulation, and analysis of Aerospace Systems, Systems Analysis, and Design

• Current/active U.S Government issued DoD Secret Clearance; clearance must have been issued/adjudicated in the past five (5) years

Experience in at least one of the below:

• Friendly / Adversary CONOPs and tactics

• Modeling and Simulation of Radars, Missiles, Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS), air / ground / maritime / space platforms

• Electronic Warfare (EW), Electronic Attack (EA), Electronic Protection (EP), Electronic Countermeasures

• Low Observables (LO)

• Radio Frequency (RF) / Infrared (IR) / Electro-Optical (EO) / Acoustic Modeling & Analysis

• Analysis of Survivability, Lethality, Vulnerability, Engagement at the mission level

• Computer Networking & Communications

Preferred Qualifications

• Proposal development, writing or execution

• Operational military background in of the following: Aircrew (Fighter / Bomber / RPA Pilot) / Electronic Warfare Officer / Weapons Systems Officer / Air Battle Manager / Naval Flight Officer / Intelligence or Communications Officer

• Master’s Degree in a STEM discipline from an accredited university

• Experience with system of systems modeling tools: AFSIM, Suppressor, or Brawler

• Familiarity with Agile, MBSE, and / or system architecture frameworks

• Effective project management skills and good communication techniques

• Experience with version control tools (Bitbucket, GitHub, or Gitlab, etc.)

• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills

• Excellent communications skills, including the ability to present and brief technical data to all levels of leadership within the organization and U.S. Government

• Analysis of Survivability, Lethality, Vulnerability, Engagement at the mission level

• Experience integrating plug-ins to AFSIM

• Knowledge of RF Threat Modeling

• Knowledge of Electronic Attack techniques and modeling

• Knowledge of guided missile design

In this role:

• We are looking for engineers who enjoy solving complex problems, can work effectively in a fast-paced environment and are passionate about advancing the aerospace industry.

• The team performs the following tasks: model development, scenario creation, designing focused vignette threads and performing analysis

• The analysis includes a wide variety of system types and span multiple domains (friendly and adversary; ground, maritime, air and space)

• This drives the development of clean-sheet requirements, refine existing program system requirements, and influence the pursuit of future technologies and capabilities

• You will work with air vehicle and subsystem engineers, as well as with program and customer leadership, to recommend candidate designs, and to develop Concepts of Operation (CONOPs) and Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) at the system, mission, and campaign levels

• The selected candidate will be responsible for developing new and / or integrate existing system simulation frameworks, performance models and algorithms, threat models and command and control models

• Develop and translate friendly / adversary tactics into mission-level models such as AFSIM and Suppressor

• Performs operational analysis and mission effectiveness analysis

• Participate in Agile project framework

• Models operational environments, performs trade studies via computer simulation, and recommends alternative architectures

• Perform mission engineering activities to ensure continuity between desired operational capabilities and delivered system performance, through the Systems Engineering V

• Ensure performance capabilities of new systems and architectures are traded against cost and mission requirements; develop mission relevant scenarios;

• Assess operational effectiveness of existing and emerging systems and capabilities in representative operational environments

• Solicit input from various stakeholders, synthesize data, and communicate results to various levels of leadership within the organization

• Develop software to model behavior of systems in real-time and constructive simulations

• Develop, integrate, and use advanced graphical user interfaces and visualization tools

Salary Range: $104,600 USD - $157,000 USD

Salary Range 2: $129,700 USD - $194,500 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.