Sr. Principal Electronics Engineer

This Sr. Principal Electronics Engineer role with Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems focuses on supporting a communications payloads subsystem on-site in Rancho Bernardo, CA or Palmdale, CA. The position requires a Top Secret clearance, travel up to 25 percent, and reports to the subsystem engineering technical lead and program manager.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate stakeholder, system, and regulatory requirements; decompose high level requirements into hardware and software subsystems, interfaces, and observable verification criteria.
• Develop and maintain system architecture models, interface control documents (ICDs), and traceability matrices to ensure design decisions align with requirements and support downstream verification and integration.
• Support communication subsystem integration and verification activities, including lab tests, link margin analysis, and environmental testing; document test procedures and results, and iterate designs to meet acceptance criteria.
• Coordinate the communication subsystem technical requirements with the supplier management team.
• Manage suppliers to evaluate new technologies and determine their viability to meet program requirements.
• Conduct comprehensive trade studies and analyses to assess benefits and drawbacks of new communication hardware and software.
• Collaborate with program management to develop program schedules, assess risks and issues, and deliver technical recommendations to stakeholders.
• Address and rectify deliverable subsystem performance concerns using program approved tools and systems.
• Identify opportunities for deliverable system improvements and work with engineering teams to implement them in accordance with the approved program process.
• Report the communications subsystem status to programmatic and technical leadership, and highlight risks, issues, and concerns to prevent cost or schedule impact.
• Provide direct user support, engineering expertise, and troubleshooting during test events.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in a STEM discipline with 8 years of related engineering experience; or a Master's with 6 years; or a PhD with 4 years.
• Experience integrating communications and network systems.
• Experience with RF and network based test equipment including oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, and power meters.
• Technical development and systems integration experience.
• Experience managing suppliers.
• Active US Government Top Secret Clearance with a background investigation within the past six years or enrollment in Continuous Evaluation.
• Ability to obtain and maintain US Government SCI clearance.
• Ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance within a timeframe determined by business needs.

Technologies

• Oscilloscopes
• Spectrum analyzers
• Network analyzers
• Power meters
• Network Encryption Devices INE, HAIPE
• MIL-STD-1553
• RS-232
• RS-422
• Ethernet IPv4/IPv6

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Life and disability insurance
• Savings plan
• Company paid holidays
• PTO for vacation and personal time
• Long term incentives
• Annual bonuses