Senior Principal Systems Engineer

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 Mission Systems (NGMS) seeks to fill a Sr Principal Systems Engineer within the Systems Engineering, Integration, and Test (SEIT) organization for Central Region Engineering (CRE) at our Rolling Meadows - Illinois location. The selected candidates will be responsible for overall technical leadership for the SEIT departments Mission Systems Engineering (MSE) and/or Systems Design (SD). This role encompasses team leadership, management, and technical performance. Department assignments will be made at the conclusion of the interview process, based on the candidates’ fit and preference.

NGMS is a leading global provider, manufacturer and integrator of advanced, secure and agile software-defined systems and solutions. Our products range from advanced sensing technologies to state-of-the-art targeting and tracking systems that are deployed in Electro-Optical Infrared (EOIR) and Radio Frequency Electronic Warfare (RFEW) systems. These systems are designed, developed, built, integrated, and tested by the capable folks at our company to protect the lives of U.S. and Allied warfighters in present and future conflicts. Our SEIT organization provides complex avionics systems in Targeting, EOIR, and RF technology areas. The Staff Engineer Systems opportunity is available in two disciplines within Rolling Meadows SEIT of Central Region:

Mission Systems Engineering: This department includes SEIT Leads, Architects, and Modeling & Simulation engineers.

The SEIT Lead provides leadership in applying the core principles of systems engineering in order to deliver innovative, affordable, highly reliable systems solutions that meet customer needs, key performance parameters, and program execution goals. The SEIT Lead will lead multi-disciplined engineering teams from business capture through system design and then integration and test of highly complex technical systems. The SEIT Lead must be familiar with program scheduling and managing customer deliverables.

The Architect must have an understanding of how our systems architecture design process meets our mission level goals. Assignments may also include analysis and trade studies of product line architectures using analytical models and mission level simulations.

A primary task for a modeling and simulations engineer is software development of in-house models and algorithms. Strong domain knowledge combined with valuable software development skills are required to produce the accurate models that drive the critical analysis needed to design our future systems.

Systems Design: Engineers in this department are involved with creating and refining Model Based System Engineering products (System behavioral models, Use Case realizations, State Machines, etc.), generation and update of System and sub-system level specifications in DOORS, including requirements traceability, creation of Verification Cross Reference Matrices (VCRM), verification traceability (tracing requirements to test plans/procedures/results), and update and maintenance of system drawings and documents. As a part of the SEIT team, a Systems Design engineer is exposed to the front-end Systems Engineering process and coordinates across many disciplines to ensure that the system description and requirements are properly and thoroughly defined and captured. Your role will include research, design, development and simulation of Electronic Warfare systems, and defining and developing processing algorithms for real-time implementation. Your expertise in RF and/or Electro-Optical system design and analysis, digital signal and or image processing and system modeling and simulation are desired for this position. During the interview process, our team will seek to understand both your experience and preferences in order to determine which area provides the best opportunity for you to succeed. These groups and engineering roles with SEIT provide a great opportunity to work alongside a variety of other Systems, Hardware, Software and Mechanical engineers to successfully execute on mission-critical programs.

Position Summary / Responsibilities, Staff Engineer Systems:
Performs technical planning, system integration, verification and validation, cost and risk, and supportability and effectiveness analyses for total systems. Analyses are performed at all levels of total system product to include: concept, design, fabrication, test, installation, operation, maintenance and disposal. Ensures the logical and systematic conversion of customer or product requirements into total systems solutions that acknowledge technical, schedule, and cost constraints. Performs functional analysis, timeline analysis, detail trade studies, requirements allocation and interface definition studies to translate customer requirements into hardware and software specifications.

As a Sr Principal Systems Engineer, you will be expected to demonstrate the following behaviors:

- Knowledge, Skills and Ability - Apply advanced technical principles, theories, and concepts. Contributes to the development of new principles and concepts. - Problem Solving - Work on unusually complex technical problems and provide innovative solutions.

- Discretion/Latitude - Works under consultative and Sr. Staff Engineering direction toward predetermined long-range goals and objectives.  Assignments are often self-initiated. Determine and pursue courses of action necessary to obtain desired results. Work checked through consultation and agreement with others rather than by formal review of superior.

- Impact - Develops advanced technological ideas and guides their development into a final product. Erroneous decisions or recommendations would typically result in failure to achieve critical organizational objectives and effect the image of the organization technological capability.
- Liaison - Serves as organization spokesperson on advanced projects and/or programs. Acts as advisor to management and customers on advanced technical research studies and applications.

Basic Qualifications: 

 • BS degree in STEM field with 9+ years related experience, MS degree in STEM field with 7+ years of related experience, or PHD with 4 + years of related experience

• Demonstrated proficiency in analytical thinking and problem solving skills and Systems Thinking mindset

• Excellent decision making and communication (written and oral) skills
• Strong work ethic and the ability to work in an integrated product team (IPT) environment
• Experience in an integration and test environment for complex electronic systems
• Active Secret Clearance

Preferred Qualifications: 
 
• Experience with real-time signal processing in both firmware and software. Agile experience a plus.
• Knowledge of MATLAB, C, C++, CUDA, VHDL, OpenCL, SysML, Python, or other scripting languages
• Experience with Model Based Engineering (MBE) concepts and tools (Cameo and Rhapsody)
• Working knowledge of DOORS and ClearCase/ClearQuest
• Recent experience creating integration and test, design verification test and flight test plans and procedures
• Experience in an integration and test environment for complex electronic systems evaluation
• Experience in development and earned value management of cost accounts and schedules as related to Systems Engineering tasks
• Working knowledge of one of more of the following specialty areas for integration and test related to Targeting, EOIR/RF systems: sensors/antennas, transmitters/receivers, optics, detection and tracking
• Ability and willingness to travel
• Active Top Secret Clearance is preferred.

Salary Range: $123,800 USD - $185,800 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.