We are looking for you to join our team as a Principal Digital Engineer or Sr. Principal Digital Engineer based out of San Diego, CA. At the Northrop Grumman San Diego campus our Advanced Digital Design organization creates the next generation of communications and signal processing systems and will take ideas from concept to working systems aboard the world’s most advanced platforms right here in always-sunny San Diego. We design in our campus of labs and on-site advanced manufacturing just minutes from the beach and everything for which southern California is famous. It’s work that matters and a career that can take you places. We seek degreed electrical or computer engineering engineers with hands-on experience in FPGA Design and Verification with VHDL.
You will be responsible for digital designs associated with multi-function software-defined radios. Systems include state-of-art radios and test equipment for military applications. This is a dual level requisition which can be filled as a Principal Digital Engineer or Sr. Principal Digital Engineer.
This position is contingent upon the ability to obtain a US Government secret clearance and future program awards.
Basic Qualifications: Principal Digital Engineer
- 5+ years of relevant experience with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) or Computer Engineering (BSCE); 3 years of relevant experience with a Masters; 1 year of experience with PHD.
- Hands on experience in VHDL design, verification, simulation, and testing of AMD and/or Intel FPGAs.
- Experience with Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Tools for FPGA Development: Vivado, Quartus, Questa Simulator.
- Demonstrated ability to work independently, taking initiative to complete tasks with minimal supervision while contributing to team success.
- Experience with board or system level debug using common test equipment.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain US Government Secret Clearance.
Basic Qualifications: Sr. Principal Digital Engineer
- 8+ years of relevant experience with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) or Computer Engineering (BSCE); 6 years of relevant experience with a Masters; 4 years of relevant with a PHD
- Hands on experience in VHDL design, verification, simulation, and testing of AMD and/or Intel FPGAs.
- Experience with Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Tools for FPGA Development: Vivado, Quartus, Questa Simulator.
- Demonstrated ability to work independently, taking initiative to complete tasks with minimal supervision while contributing to team success.
- Experience with board or system level debug using common test equipment.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain US government secret clearance.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Knowledgeable in physical constraints, timing constraints, and achieving timing closure.
- Experience with developing FPGA requirements and be able to show traceability to requirements and technical references.
- Proven experience creating design‑assurance deliverables and assembling technical data packages.
- Familiar with multilayer board design, high-speed interfaces, and RF communication systems Experience.
Skills Required
- 5+ years relevant experience with BSEE (or 3+ years with MS; 1+ year with PhD) or 8+ years relevant experience for Sr. Principal (6+ with MS; 4+ with PhD)
- Hands-on experience in VHDL design, verification, simulation, and testing of AMD and/or Intel FPGAs
- Experience with EDA tools for FPGA development: Vivado, Quartus, Questa Simulator
- Experience with board or system level debug using common test equipment
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and take initiative
- Ability to obtain and maintain US Government Secret clearance; U.S. Citizenship required for clearance positions
- Knowledge of physical/timing constraints and achieving timing closure
- Experience developing FPGA requirements and demonstrating traceability to requirements and technical references
- Proven experience creating design-assurance deliverables and assembling technical data packages
- Familiarity with multilayer board design, high-speed interfaces, and RF communication systems
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.
