Principal/Senior Principal Systems I&T Engineer (Space 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 Payload and Ground Systems organization within the Northrop Grumman Space Systems 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. Come be a part of our mission!

We offer phenomenal learning opportunities, exposure to a wide variety of projects and customers, and a very friendly collaborative workplace. 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. Does this sound like you?

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!

Our diverse portfolio of programs means there are endless paths to cultivate your career. We are well-known for our inclusive environment, as well as our excellent work/life balance. We also offer exceptional benefits/healthcare, a 9/80 schedule, and a great 401K matching program.

We have an opening for either a Principal Systems I&T Engineer or a Senior Principal Systems I&T Engineer to join our qualified, diverse team. We are seeking a team member who wants to solve interesting, complex problems to help protect our nation. We are a trusted mission payload and ground system provider with extensive experience providing end-to-end mission solutions from concept through operations and support. The team you will support is located at our Space Park campus in Redondo Beach, CA.

What you’ll get to do?

As the Systems Integration and Test (I&T) Engineer on this team, you will support a very fast-moving team to help design, model and develop the ground system for the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) low earth orbit constellation for SDA’s Tranche 1 constellation. The constellation is a mesh network of 126 optically-interconnected SVs that will provide a resilient, low-latency, high-volume data transport communications system that will be launched starting in September 2024. SDA’s vision is to deliver a minimum viable product on time, every two years to the warfighter by employing spiral development methods.

Tranche One Tracking Layer (T1TRK) is part of an ambitious space architecture to bring next-generation communications capabilities to the warfighter around the globe. This program builds upon existing Transport Layer capabilities to perform OPIR tracking missions for the DoD.  You will join an integrated, agile team to expand the Tranche One Ground System portfolio on an aggressive schedule. If you want to rapidly grow a broad spectrum of skills and experiences in space ground systems, come join us.

Core Responsibilities:

• Designs, develops, documents, tests and debugs applications software and systems that contain logical and mathematical solutions
• Conducts multidisciplinary research and collaborates with equipment designers and/or hardware engineers in the planning, design, development, and utilization of electronic data processing systems for product and commercial software
• Determines computer user needs; analyzes system capabilities to resolve problems on program intent, output requirements, input data acquisition, programming techniques and controls; prepares operating instructions; designs and develops compilers and assemblers, utility programs, and operating systems
• Ensures software standards are met
• Supports code/document peer reviews
• Develops and executes software installations, integration test plans, verification & validation plans, and SRS qualification test procedures
• Develops clear and concise detailed quality technical documentation
• Performs software integration planning and execution of separate software components into a single system
• Works with software developers and other engineers to help diagnose and identify the root cause of problems found during software installation, integration, acceptance test, and operational events
• Submits detailed problem reports for errors found
• Works in development, lab, and support operational environments, and being able to collaborate closely with system engineers, hardware engineer, software engineer and other integration/test engineers
• Develops and executes subsystem and system level integration test procedures, and performing data analysis to validate integrated hardware and software functionality
• Performs troubleshooting and resolution of HW/SW configuration issues on systems to resolve issues related to system functionality
• Performs Software Formal Qualification Test and system Factory Acceptance Test

This requisition may be filled at either a Systems I&T Engineer level or a Principal Systems I&T Engineer level

Basic Qualifications for Systems I&T Engineer:

• Bachelor's degree in STEM with 2 years of related experience, or a Master’s degree in STEM
• Familiarity with developing and writing software tests (regression, integration, unit)
• Familiarity with requirements decomposition and system verification and validation
• Ability to obtain Clearance

Basic Qualifications for Principal Systems I&T Engineer:

• Bachelor's degree in STEM with 5 years of related experience, or a Master’s degree in STEM with 3 years of related experience
• Familiarity with developing and writing software tests (regression, integration, unit)
• Familiarity with requirements decomposition and system verification and validation
• Ability to obtain Clearance

Preferred Qualifications:

• Active DoD Clearance/TS clearance/ SCI
• Demonstrated ability to work independently under limited direction within the scope of an assignment and use independent judgment in determining methods, techniques, and evaluation criteria
• Excellent written, verbal communication, and presentation skills with demonstrated ability to lead working groups and technical interchange meetings
• Exceptional analytical problem solver and systems-level thinker
• Academic and work experience to include the support of several of the following disciplines: system installations, ground system design, computer and network security, risk management/mitigation, functional analysis of requirements, engineering cost estimating and work planning, design/integration and test, trade studies, performance analysis, interface control, remote sensing, orbital and vector mechanics, dynamics and control, optics, RF and digital communications , Linux OS

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.