Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, AMS E&S is seeking experienced engineers in the following areas: Receiver Exciter, RF/Microwave design and Digital Technology. The Principal / Sr. Principal RF Engineer role is focused on RF/Microwave Design and Analysis.
Responsibilities include but not limited to:
The candidate should demonstrate familiarity/technical ability in one or more of the following areas:
- Subsystem requirements (hardware and software) derivation, flow-down, and configuration
- Systems Architecture
- Receiver/Exciter Architecture
- Documentation experience, generating test procedures, test reports, RF requirements, data analysis, data presentation
- Data Processing
- Measurements and Data Reduction
- Performance Modeling
- Support performance testing, requirements verification and more.
- Integrated subsystems including DREX and Antenna Hardware
- Subsystem integration, test, and system integration
- Conducting Test Readiness Reviews (TRR)
- Perform in-depth analysis of hardware commanding down to the register level
In addition, this candidate should have demonstrated technical ability/leadership and expertise in one or more of the following areas:
- Active electronically scanned arrays (AESAs)
- Highly integrated subsystems including antenna hardware
- Reflectors, Reflect Arrays, Digital Beam Forming
- Antenna/RF Performance Analysis
- Computational Electromagnetics, Statistics
- Expertise in Antenna Measurements and Data Reduction, including RF budget analysis and performance evaluation
- Strong MATLAB programming skills, with ability to develop scripts and function for big data processing and analysis
- Experience with Atlassian Tool Suite, Git
These roles are contingent upon maintaining a Secret Clearance and obtaining SAP clearance.
These roles are contingent upon Program Award.
This role can be filled at either the Level 3 or Level 4 per the requirements below.
Basic Qualification Principal RF Microwave Design Engineer:
- Must hold a Secret or Top-Secret security clearance
- Must have a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or related discipline with 4 years of experience in the areas described in the job description or Master's Degree with 2 years of experience or PhD with 0 years of experience. An additional 4 years of experience on lieu of degree is acceptable.
- Proficient in MATLAB
- Experience processing large amounts of data
- Have an understanding of Antenna/RF Performance Analysis
Basic Qualifications Sr Principal Engineer RF Microwave Design:
- Must hold a Secret or Top-Secret security clearance
- Must have a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or related discipline with 8 years of experience in the areas described in the job description or Master's Degree with 6 years of experience or PhD with 3 years of experience
- An additional 4 years of experience on lieu of degree.
- Sr. Principal Engineers should have a demonstrated ability in technical and team leadership overseeing engineers with experience at least at the Principal level.
- Strong knowledge using MATLAB
- Strong knowledge of processing large amount of data
- Strong understanding of AESA / phased array, Radar, SIGINT, or SATCOM sensors
- Be able to delegate, task and oversee the work of junior RF engineers
Preferred Qualifications:
- TS/SCI clearance
- SAP clearance
- Experience troubleshooting RF subsystems
- Strong understanding of Antenna/RF Performance Analysis
- Requirements generation/flow down
Skills Required
- Active Secret or Top-Secret security clearance required
- U.S. Citizenship required
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related discipline (or equivalent experience)
- Principal level: Bachelor's +4 years experience or Master's +2 years or PhD with 0 years (additional 4 years experience in lieu of degree)
- Sr Principal level: Bachelor's +8 years experience or Master's +6 years or PhD +3 years (additional 4 years experience in lieu of degree)
- Proficient in MATLAB and able to develop scripts/functions for large data processing
- Experience processing large amounts of data
- Understanding of Antenna/RF performance analysis and RF budget/performance evaluation
- Strong understanding of AESA/phased array, Radar, SIGINT, or SATCOM sensors (Sr Principal)
- Demonstrated technical and team leadership overseeing principal-level engineers (Sr Principal)
- Ability to perform subsystem integration, test, system integration, test documentation, and conduct TRRs
- Ability to obtain SAP clearance (roles contingent upon SAP)
- Experience with Atlassian Tool Suite and Git
- TS/SCI clearance (preferred)
- Experience troubleshooting RF subsystems (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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.








