Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal Design Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position will be located in Palmdale, CA.
In this role you will design major components or major portions of a functional system to develop or improve products and facilitate manufacturing operations. Develop basic data and make preliminary layouts, sketches, and notes necessary to present design proposal. Investigate pertinent design factors such as ease of manufacture, availability of materials and equipment, interchangeability, replace ability, strength-weight efficiency, and contractual specification requirements and cost. Coordinate with other organizations affected by design development. Make layouts of complex assemblies and detail parts of devices, mechanisms, and structures. Check completed layouts and drawings for clarity, completeness, conformity to standards, procedures, specifications, and accuracy of calculations and dimensioning. Identify design errors, omissions, and other deficiencies, and recommend revisions and/or improvements in design layout to responsible engineers or designers.
As the Design Engineer, you will be responsible for developing and integrating designs for various air vehicle systems and subsystems. Your work will involve integration into labs, test vehicles, or specialized test equipment. You will engage in design activities related to cable interface assemblies. Use standard computer aided design (CAD) digitizing techniques and skills. Digitizes, edits, and revises engineering drawings of components, parts, circuits, structures and/or assemblies. Makes engineering computations, mathematical calculations, determines scales, and prepares or revises specifications
Key Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
- Development of avionics and lab harness designs and schematics
- Coordination and liaison of electrical engineering designs through the procurement process
- Coordination and liaison of electrical design integration and assembly
- Lead and coordinate integration of hardware in a laboratory environment
- Development of documentation in support of designs and product lifecycle management
- Support troubleshooting and system verification in a lab setting
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) discipline with 5 years’ experience; 3 years’ experience with a Master’s degree; or 1 year’ experience with a PhD.
- Must be a U.S. Citizen and with the ability to obtain and maintain an Active U.S. Government Secret clearance.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain Special Access Programs (SAP) clearance as a condition of continued employment
Preferred Qualifications:
- Knowledge of communications hardware and protocol for Ethernet, serial, 1553
- Knowledge of electrical components, power design and considerations
- Proficiency in interpreting and creating electrical schematics and wiring diagrams.
- Knowledge leading design projects, including cable assemblies, data acquisition hardware, and sensor integration
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in STEM with 5 years' experience, Master's with 3 years, or PhD with 1 year.
- U.S. Citizenship.
- Ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) eligibility/clearance.
- Experience with CAD/digitizing techniques for engineering drawings and layouts.
- Knowledge of communications hardware and protocols (Ethernet, serial, 1553).
- Knowledge of electrical components, power design, and considerations.
- Proficiency interpreting and creating electrical schematics and wiring diagrams.
- Experience leading design projects including cable assemblies, data acquisition hardware, and sensor integration.
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.







