Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal / Sr. Principal Computer Hardware Engineer to join the F-35 Mission Systems team. This position is located onsite in Redondo Beach, CA.
The selected candidate will be responsible for designing, building, and maintaining computer system hardware racks and workstations that are used by the F-35 software developers to accomplish their software development and delivery tasks.
Key Responsibilities:
- Build rack mounted and workstation HPE systems using available frames and motherboards, CPUs, memory, and disks.
- Design, construct, and maintain computer racks consisting of HPE systems, switches and firewalls, tape libraries, and other needed peripherals in a professional manner for both classified and unclassified environments.
- Design and implement safe networking strategies between the enterprise network and our F35 project network, and among the various developer workstations.
- Load and configure all rack-mounted systems and peripherals and developer workstations per project requirements.
- Produce professional drawings of the F35 developer network.
- Investigate, install, and maintain other software products as required.
We offer flexible work arrangements, 9/80 work schedule, phenomenal learning opportunities, and a very friendly team environment
This requisition may be filled at either a Principal Computer Hardware Engineer level 3 or a Sr. Principal Computer Hardware Engineer level 4
Basic Qualifications for a Principal Computer Hardware Engineer (level 3):
- Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 5 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 3 years of related engineering experience; OR a PhD in a STEM discipline and 1 years of related engineering experience.
- Prior professional experience constructing and maintaining computer hardware racks and workstations for unclassified and classified environments.
- Prior professional experience with software loading and administration of racked systems.
- Demonstrated ability to investigate and solve configuration issues related to the use of various software tools.
- Prior professional experience with the installation and configuration of network switches and firewalls.
- Working familiarity with Linux system administration.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a US Government clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
Basic Qualifications for a Sr. Principal Computer Hardware Engineer (level 4):
- Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 8 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of related engineering experience; OR a PhD in a STEM discipline and 4 years of related engineering experience.
- Prior professional experience constructing and maintaining computer hardware racks and workstations for unclassified and classified environments.
- Prior professional experience with software loading and administration of racked systems.
- Demonstrated ability to investigate and solve configuration issues related to the use of various software tools.
- Prior professional experience with the installation and configuration of network switches and firewalls.
- Working familiarity with Linux system administration.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a US Government clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
Preferred Qualifications for both a Principal and Sr. Principal Computer Hardware Engineer:
- Familiarity with configuration and administration of SUSE Linux, LDAP, and Samba.
- Familiarity with Lynx OS real-time software.
- Familiarity with LDRA and Coverity security scanning tools.
- Experience setting up FlexLM license manager servers.
- Experience selecting needed hardware and software from vendors and working with a purchasing department to acquire the identified products.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline and 5 years related engineering experience OR Master's with 3 years OR PhD with 1 year (Principal level)
- Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline and 8 years related engineering experience OR Master's with 6 years OR PhD with 4 years (Sr. Principal level)
- Prior professional experience constructing and maintaining computer hardware racks and workstations for unclassified and classified environments
- Prior professional experience with software loading and administration of racked systems
- Ability to investigate and solve configuration issues related to various software tools
- Prior professional experience with installation and configuration of network switches and firewalls
- Working familiarity with Linux system administration
- Ability to obtain and maintain a US Government clearance and Special Access Program (SAP)
- Familiarity with configuration and administration of SUSE Linux, LDAP, and Samba
- Familiarity with Lynx OS real-time software
- Familiarity with LDRA and Coverity security scanning tools
- Experience setting up FlexLM license manager servers
- Experience selecting hardware and software from vendors and working with purchasing to acquire products
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.








