Sr Principal Engineer Systems - Ground-Based Radar (AHT)

About the role

• RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available
• CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes
• CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret
• TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

About the role

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 Space Systems is seeking a Sr. Principal Systems Engineer - Ground-Based Radar to serve as the technical leader and primary coordinator for integrated software and hardware systems engineering on a large, multi-site, multi-contract ground-based radar system. This role provides senior technical leadership within radar, site activation, and compute Integrated Product Teams (IPTs), ensuring a coherent technical baseline and disciplined application of Systems Engineering (SE) and Configuration Management (CM) best practices across all participating sites and contract segments for one overall system.

Responsibilities

• Act as the technical leader and central coordinator across a multi-site, multi-disciplinary team, ensuring alignment of system architecture, requirements, design decisions, and CM baselines.
• Lead software- and hardware-focused systems engineering with emphasis on requirements decomposition, allocation, traceability, and readiness for SRR, PDR, and CDR across multiple sites and contracts.
• Champion SE best practices, including rigorous requirements management, interface definition, verification and validation planning, risk management, and technical performance management.
• Champion CM best practices to establish, maintain, and control technical baselines; ensure proper configuration identification, change control, status accounting, and audit readiness across all SW/HW elements and sites.
• Provide systems engineering guidance within radar, site activation, and compute IPTs; ensure consistent application of SE and CM processes and maintenance of a unified technical baseline across all locations.
• Capture and synthesize subject matter expert inputs (software, hardware, RF, integration & test) to support CDRL development and provide Integration & Test consultation for a distributed system.
• Translate customer requirements and CONOPS into integrated system requirements for a large, multi-site radar architecture; allocate requirements to software, hardware, and interfaces and manage changes through disciplined SE and CM processes.
• Perform functional analysis and systems trade studies across concept, design, fabrication, test, installation, operations, and sustainment, considering multi-site deployment, interoperability, and logistics.
• Develop clear system and subsystem requirements, interface control documentation (ICDs), and test and verification artifacts covering SW, HW, and cross-site integration.
• Support system and subsystem integration, test, and requirements verification activities, including HW-in-the-loop, SW integration, and end-to-end system-level testing across multiple locations.
• Define, track, and report technical performance measures for SW, HW, and overall system performance, driving cross-site issue resolution and risk mitigation.
• Prepare and present materials for SRR, SFR, PDR, CDR, SVR, TRR, and other program reviews, integrating inputs from multiple teams and sites and demonstrating adherence to SE and CM best practices.
• Interface with inter-organizational leadership, external customers, and geographically dispersed teams to deliver technical briefings and communicate program status, risks, dependencies, and configuration baseline impacts.
• Perform minimal travel as required to coordinate with multi-site teams and operational locations.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelors in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline with 8 years of related experience or a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of experience, or a PhD and 4 years of experience.
• U.S. Citizenship is required
• Must have an active U.S. Government Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope.
• Proven experience leading systems engineering for ground-based radar or comparable large-scale sensor systems, spanning both software and hardware elements.
• Demonstrated expertise in requirements development, decomposition, allocation, and end-to-end traceability across SW and HW architectures.
• Experience acting as a technical lead or coordinator across multi-disciplinary or geographically dispersed teams.
• Demonstrated application of Systems Engineering best practices, including requirements management, verification and validation, risk management, and technical performance management.
• Demonstrated application of Configuration Management best practices for complex systems, including baseline management and formal change control.
• Experience preparing for and executing major technical reviews (e.g., SRR, PDR, CDR) and producing associated systems engineering artifacts.
• Hands-on experience with functional analysis, systems trade studies, and lifecycle systems engineering from concept through sustainment.
• Experience generating and managing system and subsystem requirements, interface documentation (ICDs), and test and verification plans and procedures for integrated SW/HW systems.
• Experience supporting integration, test, and requirements verification activities, including SW/HW integration and system-level validation.
• Demonstrated ability to define, monitor, and report technical performance measures for complex sensor systems.
• Experience in presenting technical content to internal leadership and external customers.
• Ability to work on-site in Colorado Springs, CO.

Preferred Qualifications

• Leadership experience within radar, site activation, or compute IPTs, covering both software and hardware disciplines.
• Experience coordinating technical baselines and integration activities across multiple sites, subcontractors, or contract vehicles.
• Experience developing CDRLs and providing Integration & Test consultation while maintaining a disciplined technical baseline and enforcing SE/CM best practices across multiple contracts.
• Background translating operational concepts and customer requirements into system and subsystem specifications for multi-site, ground-based radar architectures, including signal processing, RF front-end, and supporting compute infrastructure.
• Experience preparing materials for milestone reviews that span both software and hardware readiness and cross-site integration.

Primary Level Salary Range

$129,300.00 - $193,900.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and 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 application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.