Modeling and Simulation Engineer - Data Analytics (Engineer or Principal Engineer Level)
Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Modeling and Simulation Engineer - Data Analytics (Engineer or Principal Engineer level) to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Systems Engineering organization. This role is located in San Diego, CA.
In this role, you will be responsible for supporting a data analysis effort within the Sustainment Systems Engineering team on the Triton Enterprise. You will be expected to maintain, develop, and routinely run a set of data analysis tools to help make data-driven decision making. Additionally, you will assist with network updates and maintenance of the virtual machines that host the database.
This position will work a 9/80 schedule, with every other Friday off.
Essential Duties:
- Data Architecture & Modeling – Design scalable data mining pipelines, establish protocols for data ingestion, cleaning, transformation, and storage. Evolve models to capture long term trends and support real time analytics.
- Statistical Insight – Perform exploratory data analysis, hypothesis testing, and advanced statistical modeling to identify key drivers and associations within heterogeneous data sources.
- Visualization & Reporting – Create interactive dashboards and reports using modern BI and visualization tools (e.g., MATLAB, Tableau, Power BI, Plotly) to communicate insights to technical and non technical stakeholders.
- Cross Functional Collaboration – Partner with engineering, operations, and business units to define problem statements, translate requirements into analytical solutions, and integrate findings into product roadmaps.
- Innovation & Knowledge Leadership – Stay abreast of cutting edge data science methodologies (e.g., deep learning, reinforcement learning) and evaluate their relevance to defense contexts. Mentor teams and promote a culture of data driven decision making.
- Governance & Quality – Establish data governance standards, data quality metrics, and reproducibility practices across the analytics lifecycle.
This role can be filled at an Engineer or Principal Engineer level based on the qualifications below.
Basic Qualifications:
At an Engineer Level:
- Must have a Bachelors of Science degree in a STEM field and at least 2 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a Master's Degree in a STEM field and at least some of relevant military / professional / academic experience
At a Principal Engineer Level:
- Must have a Bachelors of Science 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
And at Both Levels:
- 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.
- 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
Skills Required
- Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM field
- Engineer level: B.S. + ≥2 years relevant experience OR Master’s + some relevant experience
- Principal level: B.S. + ≥5 years OR Master’s + ≥3 years OR PhD + ≥1 year relevant experience
- Active US Government Secret or higher clearance (background investigation within last 6 years or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation)
- Ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance
- Experience ingesting, processing, storing, analyzing, and visualizing large datasets
- Proficiency with Python
- Proficiency with SQL
- Experience with Tableau
- Experience with MATLAB
- .DAT file decoding experience
- IT management knowledge including security patching of virtual machine instances on central network
- Excellent communication skills translating complex analytics into actionable insights
- Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive best practices adoption
- Ability to read and understand system architecture diagrams
- Interest in autonomous air vehicle platforms and operations
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.
-
Retirement Support — 401(k) matching is considered strong, with additional defined-benefit coverage for certain cohorts and options like catch-up contributions. Retirement programs are repeatedly highlighted as a core strength of the total rewards.
-
Leave & Time Off Breadth — PTO, company-paid holidays, and compressed work schedules (such as 9/80) provide meaningful time away and flexibility. These scheduling options are cited as a major quality-of-life benefit across many locations.
-
Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave alongside caregiver leave, adoption assistance, and back-up care supports a range of family needs. These programs have been expanded recently, signaling continued investment in family support.
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.








