Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Modeling and Simulation Engineer (Principal Engineer or Senior Principal Engineer) to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Systems Engineering organization. This role is located in El Segundo, CA.
In this role, you will be expected to maintain, develop, and routinely run a set of data analysis tools to help make data-driven decision making.
This position will work a 9/80 schedule, with every other Friday off.
This role can be filled at a Principal Engineer or Senior Principal Engineer level based on the qualifications below.
Basic Qualifications:
Applicable at a Principal Engineer Level (level 3):
- 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.
Applicable at a Senior Principal Engineer Level (level 4):
- Must have a Bachelors degree in a STEM field and at least 8 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a Master's Degree in a STEM field and at least 6 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a PhD and at least 4 years of relevant military / professional experience.
And at Both Levels:
- Must have the ability to obtain or maintain a U.S. 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.
- Must have experience in ingesting, processing, storing, analyzing and visualizing large data sets.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Demonstrated proficiency with Python, SQL, Tableau, MATLAB, and .DAT file decoding.
- IT Management: understand security patch updates to virtual machine instances on servers hosted on central network.
- Excellent communication: ability to translate complex analytics into clear, actionable insights.
- Self-started in influencing cross functional teams, out-of-the-box problem solving, and driving analytical strategy.
- Proven ability to influence and drive adoption of best practices across teams.
- Capable of reading and understanding system architecture diagrams.
- Keen interest in autonomous air vehicle platforms and its operations.
- An active US Government Secret or higher clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field and 5 years of relevant military or professional experience for Principal Engineer level
- Master’s degree in a STEM field and 3 years of relevant military or professional experience for Principal Engineer level
- PhD and 1 year of relevant military, professional, or academic experience for Principal Engineer level
- Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field and 8 years of relevant military or professional experience for Senior Principal Engineer level
- Master’s degree in a STEM field and 6 years of relevant military or professional experience for Senior Principal Engineer level
- PhD and 4 years of relevant military or professional experience for Senior Principal Engineer level
- Ability to obtain or maintain a U.S. Government Secret or higher clearance
- Ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program clearance
- Experience ingesting, processing, storing, analyzing, and visualizing large datasets
- Proficiency with Python, SQL, Tableau, MATLAB, and .DAT file decoding
- Understanding of security patch updates for virtual machine instances on centrally hosted servers
- Ability to translate complex analytics into clear, actionable insights
- Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive analytical strategy
- Ability to drive adoption of best practices across teams
- Ability to read and understand system architecture diagrams
- Interest in autonomous air vehicle platforms and their operations
- Active U.S. Government Secret or higher clearance
Northrop Grumman Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Northrop Grumman and has not been reviewed or approved by Northrop Grumman.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage offers multiple medical plan options by region alongside dental, vision, mental‑health resources, and wellness programs. Recent materials also highlight added family‑building support, including a dedicated fertility benefit.
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Retirement Support — The 401(k) savings plan is positioned as competitive with a company match, auto‑escalation features, and access to an employee stock fund/ESPP. Official filings and benefits guides emphasize retirement as a core element of the Total Rewards package.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Many sites offer a 9/80 schedule, generous PTO, paid holidays, and flexible/telework options where program needs allow. Paid parental and caregiver leave are prominently featured, with recent enhancements for the delivering parent.
Northrop Grumman Insights
What We Do
We are a close-knit community of big thinkers collaborating to keep the world safe. Our passion, creativity and expertise bring next-level technology solutions to life in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, space, and logistics and modernization for our customers around the globe. On the Northrop Grumman team, you’ll join our pursuit of excellence immersed in a dynamic culture of innovation and respect. Your unique perspective will help achieve our shared vision for the future of global security. Every step of the way, you'll be supported by world-class training, employee resource groups and a comprehensive benefits package that enables greater health and happiness for you and your family. Worldwide and across disciplines, we’re challenging what’s possible for technology to protect people and places from undersea to outer space and into cyberspace. And we see the impact of our performance every day. We are Northrop Grumman, and we work on what matters—now, you too can make a difference. Explore opportunities in engineering, IT, manufacturing, business management, cybersecurity and more with us. Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.









