Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems MQ-4 Triton Program seeks a Principal Engineer/ Sr. Principal Engineer Navigation to support the Vehicle Management System - Navigation team in Rancho Bernardo, CA.
The Vehicle Management System group is responsible for vehicle flight control and safety. The Navigation team is responsible for managing the navigation subsystem, including Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, inertial measurement units (IMU), and radio-frequency equipment. The selected candidate will work independently and collaborate across multiple teams to deliver quality solutions. General duties for the candidate include flight/lab testing, Production/Field Support, anomaly resolution, and supplier management.
The role is dynamic as members of the team handle a broad range of activities across multiple phases of the program to include development, production, and operational support. Some of those responsibilities are:
Integrate navigation hardware, accounting for hardware capabilities/limitations, defining interfaces, and incorporating required redundancy.
Conduct investigations, system testing, and flight testing in lab environments.
Provide remote and on-site troubleshooting for Production and Field issues.
Support proposal development, technical planning, verification & validation, cost & risk analysis, and trade studies.
Ensure the logical and systematic conversion of customer or product requirements into total system solutions that balance technical, schedule, and cost constraints.
This position can be filled at either the Principal Engineer or Senior Principal Engineer level.
Basic Qualifications:
Basic qualifications for a Principal Engineer Guidance Navigation Control include a Bachelor's in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) and at least 5 years of experience, a Master's Degree in STEM with 3 years of experience, or a PhD Degree with 1 year of experience
Basic qualifications for a Senior Principal Engineer Guidance Navigation Control include a Bachelor's in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) and at least 8 years of experience, a Master's Degree in STEM with 6 years of experience, or a PhD Degree with 3 years experience
General understanding of the GPS system, inertial sensors, and RF devices (amplifiers, splitters, etc.) and how these concepts are interconnected.
Experience with the following software Tools: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Project, Visio), MATLAB
Experience with test equipment such as oscilloscopes, signal generators, signal analyzers, or multi-meters.
Your ability to obtain and/or transfer and maintain the final U.S. adjudicated government Secret clearance (must be in-scope or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation) and any program access(es) required for the position within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Company.
Preferred Qualifications:
Active DoD Secret security clearance or higher
Comprehensive knowledge of navigation components, including receivers and inertial sensors.
Experience with system redundancy and associated safety analysis
Familiarity with databuses and related protocols, such as MIL-STD-1553, RS-422, ARINC-429
Experience performing system-level design/troubleshooting
Flight Test experience: Some experience
Supplier management: Some experience
Requirements verification testing: Some experience
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field and at least 5 years of experience for Principal Engineer level
- Master’s degree in a STEM field and at least 3 years of experience for Principal Engineer level
- PhD in a STEM field and at least 1 year of experience for Principal Engineer level
- Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field and at least 8 years of experience for Senior Principal Engineer level
- Master’s degree in a STEM field and at least 6 years of experience for Senior Principal Engineer level
- PhD in a STEM field and at least 3 years of experience for Senior Principal Engineer level
- General understanding of GPS systems, inertial sensors, and RF devices
- Experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, Project, Visio, and MATLAB
- Experience using oscilloscopes, signal generators, signal analyzers, or multimeters
- Ability to obtain, transfer, and maintain a final U.S. adjudicated government Secret clearance; clearance must be in-scope or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation
- Active DoD Secret clearance or higher
- Comprehensive knowledge of navigation receivers and inertial sensors
- Experience with system redundancy and safety analysis
- Familiarity with MIL-STD-1553, RS-422, or ARINC-429
- System-level design and troubleshooting experience
- Flight test experience
- Supplier management experience
- Requirements verification testing experience
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.





