Principal Systems Engineer - Engineering Investigation and Technical Directive Letter Implementation

  • Northrop Grumman
  • San Diego, California
  • Full Time
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be availableCLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: YesCLEARANCE TYPE: SecretTRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time Description 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 Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal EI/TDL Systems Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Systems Engineering organization. This role is located in Rancho Bernardo, CA.

In this role, you will primarily work with Triton Sustainment, evaluating Engineering Investigation (EI) solutions, Technical Directive Letter (TDL) implementation and trade study progress. You will be responsible for evaluating the proposed solutions and driving engineering rigor throughout the process. Additionally, you will be expected to explain the proposed cost and any deviations that arise as the solutions are being implemented. You'll explore methods to optimize the process and reduce the overall cost of the solution and will support collaboration with IPTs to ensure the work is correctly tracked and managed.

Finally, in this position you'll work up to 50% time on the Triton Core Systems Engineering team, supporting diverse engineering design teams to provide imaginative, technical solutions to a wide range of difficult problems on the Triton Enterprise. This can include scope across the entire spectrum of the System Engineering V-Model.

Duties will include:

  • Evaluate EI, TDL and Trade Study technical solutions and ensure engineering rigor throughout development and implementation of solution
  • Leading and hosting re-occurring meetings with various IPTs to drive progress and engineering rigor across engineering investigations, trade studies and technical changes directed by the customer
  • Collaborating with Program Managers, Chief Engineers and various IPTs to define and prioritize funding allocation with a defined budget
  • Understand and define existing processes while identifying gaps and pursuing process improvements
  • Engaging with Global Supply Chain and Suppliers to understand quotes and reduce cost for incoming quotes
  • Collaborating with Contracts in developing contractual direction letters to define and bound scope
  • Implementing proper Configuration Management principals across the various engineering updates
  • Acting as a CAM to help track, coordinate and understand any updates or changes to the established baseline

Basic Qualifications:

  • Must have a Bachelors degree in a STEM field and at least 5 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a Master's Degree in a STEM field and at least 3 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a PhD and at least 1 year of relevant military / professional / academic experience
  • Must have an active US Government Secret or higher clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
  • Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience with contractual direction from customer, specifically related to engineering change and engineering change management
  • Experience adjudicating findings from deployed assets and developing technical solutions to emergent issues
  • Prior or existing CAM/EVM experience
  • Managing JIRA AGILE/Kanban workflow
  • Familiarity with Systems Engineering V model and Design processes
  • Experience with ROM development in estimating engineering tasks
  • Familiarity with TeamCenter PLC and JIRA/Confluence
Primary Level Salary Range: $114,000.00 - $171,000.00The 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.Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity 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 and pay transparency statement, please visit U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.
Job ID: 523607339
Originally Posted on: 6/4/2026

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