Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for Principle Flight Test Instrumentation Mechanical Design Engineer to Lead our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Test & Evaluation organization.
In this role you will be responsible for mechanical designs associated with flight test electronic equipment, and integration onto test vehicles. These design activities will be associated with any of the following – cable interface assemblies, data acquisition hardware, and a variety of sensors design to measure stress, thermal, vibration, and linear / rotational displacement.
Key Responsibilities:
- Complete mechanical design life cycle from concept to system integration for flight test instrumentation hardware.
- Facilitate cross IPT / discipline collaboration in the development of flight test instrumentation designs.
- Procurement of hardware in support of mechanical designs.
- Serve as the point of contact with vendors, manufacturers, and technician teams in the fabrication, assembly, and installation of flight test instrumentation equipment.
Basic Qualifications for Principal Instrumentation Mechanical Design Engineer:
- Must have a Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM discipline AND 5 years of related professional/military experience, OR a Master's degree AND 2 years of related professional/military experience.
- Must have an active US Government Secret clearance (with a background investigation within the past 6 years or enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a Secret clearance, within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
- Solid understanding of application and implementations of flight test mechanical installations.
- Strong knowledge of capabilities, uses, and limitations of Strain Gages, Accelerometers, Pressure Transducers and other commonly used instrumentation sensor design and Installation.
- Knowledge or experience navigating MIL-STD documents and specifications
Preferred qualifications
- Experience with gathering system requirements.
- Able to create detailed design specifications, product manuals, ICDs, and/or design handbooks.
- Design and operational experience with TTC data systems.
- Familiarity with fundamental principles of Symvionics IADS software or working in a Mission Control Room
- Knowledge or experience with IRIG 106; CH10, CH7, and TM Downlink.
- Demonstrated ability to support post-test data processing and analysis to provide recommendations / authorize configuration changes of the test instrumentation system for flight to Engineering and Leadership.
Skills Required
- Bachelor of Science in a STEM discipline AND 5 years related experience, OR Masters degree AND 2 years related experience
- Active US Government Secret clearance with background investigation within past 6 years or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret clearance as required by business needs
- Solid understanding of flight test mechanical installations and integration onto test vehicles
- Strong knowledge of strain gages, accelerometers, pressure transducers, and common instrumentation sensor installation practices
- Knowledge or experience navigating MIL-STD documents and specifications
- Experience gathering system requirements (preferred)
- Ability to create detailed design specifications, product manuals, ICDs, and design handbooks (preferred)
- Design and operational experience with TTC data systems (preferred)
- Familiarity with Symvionics IADS software or Mission Control Room operations (preferred)
- Knowledge or experience with IRIG 106 (CH10, CH7) and TM Downlink (preferred)
- Ability to support post-test data processing and analysis to recommend instrumentation configuration changes (preferred)
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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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.
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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.
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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.






