Principal Systems Engineer

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman · Aerospace · Los Angeles, CA +1 · Systems/Architecture/Test

Principal Systems Engineer role at Northrop Grumman focusing on the full lifecycle of systems engineering, from requirements definition and architecture development to design reviews, verification, and transition to production. Requires strong analytical skills, experience with systems engineering tools, and the ability to lead cross-functional teams in the defense sector.

What you'd actually do

  1. Be responsible for the technical baseline development by capturing, analyzing, and finalizing the functional and performance requirements baseline; maintain full traceability in DOORS and confirm verifiability ahead of the Critical Design Review (CDR).
  2. Develop functional and physical system architectures, conduct trade‑off studies, and select optimal solutions that advance system maturity toward production readiness.
  3. Organize and lead internal design‑review meetings; facilitate external CDR sessions with customers, suppliers, certification bodies and other partners, collecting feedback, documenting decisions and driving corrective actions to closure.
  4. Collaborate with integration and test teams on schedules, maintain Interface Control Documents (ICDs) and create comprehensive test verification matrices that cover hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) and software‑in‑the‑loop (SIL) scenarios.
  5. Lead verification execution, analyze test and analysis results, resolve discrepancies and close verification loops to satisfy CDR baseline requirements and subsequent system qualification.

Skills

Required

  • Bachelor of Science in a STEM discipline + 5 years of related experience; Master of Science in a STEM discipline +3 years of related experience; PhD in a STEM discipline + 1 years of related experience
  • Demonstrated systems‑engineering experience, preferably in aerospace or defense.
  • Proficient with systems‑engineering tools such as DOORS, CAMEO, MATLAB, or comparable software.
  • Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills
  • Excellent written and verbal communication
  • Collaborative team player
  • Meticulous attention to detail
  • Agile and adaptable
  • US Citizenship Required
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance
  • Availability to work onsite full‑time in Woodland Hills, California.

Nice to have

  • Master’s degree or PhD in a STEM field or in technical management.
  • Solid understanding of inertial navigation and related products.
  • Proven track record executing program milestones, including Systems Requirements Review (SRR), System Functional Review (SFR), Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and Critical Design Review (CDR).
  • Active DoD Secret clearance.

What the JD emphasized

  • Systems Engineer
  • systems-engineering principles
  • Critical Design Review (CDR)
  • verification sell-off campaigns
  • hardware-software systems
  • DOORS
  • test verification matrices
  • hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)
  • software-in-the-loop (SIL)
  • verification execution
  • CDR baseline requirements
  • system qualification
  • US security clearance
  • DoD Secret clearance