Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal Systems Engineer - F35 Project Engineering to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Systems Engineering organization. This role is located in Redondo Beach, CA with approximately 10% travel.
In this role, you will plan and execute change packages; maintain technical integration, cost, schedule, and support organization impacts associated with each unique package. Strong communication & organization skills are necessary to coordinate with the customer as well as the internal Integrated Product Teams (IPT)s. You will drive change execution between Engineering, Global Supply Chain and Production to completion and present status and issues to Program Leadership.
The environment is very dynamic and requires you to find solutions and share with colleagues. You will excel if you enjoys a fast-paced work environment with high expectations, significantly diverse assignments, and working in a collaborative/team setting.
Some of your skills needed in this role:
- Technical knowledge and practice in design, analysis, cross-functional integration, or on-aircraft experience with Subsystems, Composites, or Metallic Structures.
- Excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills.
- Experience in managing the implementation of multi-disciplinary projects and stakeholders
- Customer facing and leadership facing presentation experience
- Ability to distill complex issues and convey to a wide audience
- Knowledge with Configuration Management
- Ability to excel in a fast paced environment
Basic Qualifications:
- Must have a Bachelors degree in a STEM field and at least 5 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a Master's Degree in a STEM field and at least 3 years of relevant military / professional experience, OR a PhD and at least 1 year of relevant military / professional / academic experience
- Must have an active DoD Secret or higher clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Final DoD security clearance Secret or above.Experience with leading Root Cause Corrective Actions (RCCA)
- Government Contracts experience
- Team leadership and technical delegation experience highly desired.
- Experience with Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing and Test documentation.
- Familiarity with Cost/schedule/budget concepts and tools (EVMS, SAP, etc.).Experience with production rate vehicle development
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in a STEM field with at least 5 years relevant experience, OR Master's with 3 years, OR PhD with 1 year
- Active DoD Secret or higher clearance (background investigation within last 6 years or currently enrolled in Continuous Evaluation)
- Ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance
- Technical experience in design, analysis, cross-functional integration, or on-aircraft work with subsystems, composites, or metallic structures
- Knowledge of Configuration Management
- Experience managing implementation of multi-disciplinary projects and stakeholders
- Excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills; customer and leadership-facing presentation experience
- Experience leading Root Cause Corrective Actions (RCCA)
- Government contracts experience
- Team leadership and technical delegation experience
- Experience with aerospace engineering, manufacturing and test documentation
- Familiarity with cost/schedule/budget tools and concepts (EVMS, SAP)
- Experience with production rate vehicle development
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.









