Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Systems Engineering Lead (Staff Engineer Systems) to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Systems Engineering organization. This role is located in El Segundo and Rancho Bernardo, CA. This position requires travel up to 25%.
In this role, you will lead across a portfolio of programs focused on all-domain information management. This team is part of the Research and Advanced Development division working on exciting new next generation technologies. You will have the ability to shape multiple efforts to bring systems engineering rigor, traceability, and architecture and design definition. You also must have excellent communication skills, the ability to build customer relationships and the ability to represent the team at customer meetings.
Responsibilities:
- Serve as the technical authority and primary decision maker for all milestones, including System Requirements Review (SRR), Preliminary Design Review (PDR), and Critical Design Review (CDR).
- Lead requirements development, decomposition and verification, use case development and analysis, system integration, configuration management, change integration, cybersecurity, EMI/EMC and System Safety.
- Coordinating test planning, executing hardware and software verifications, managing data-collection efforts, analyzing results, and ensuring that technical deliverables meet performance, safety, and schedule objectives.
- Write and deliver documentation, artifacts and presentations in support of program reviews and customer deliverables (CDRL).
- Participate in technical exchange meetings, interfacing with customers (internal/external) and contributing to a broad range of program deliverables.
- Drive and champion continuous process improvement across various Systems Engineering disciplines.
- Provide technical guidance, leadership and mentorship to multi-disciplinary teams across Systems Engineering to ensure success of team members across all levels.
- Lead technical anomaly resolution, including adjudication of findings to current and future builds, lead internal and external technical change/ review coordination, and manage the technical baseline of the program.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required, for both up-and-out communication to executive leadership and the customer, and for down-and-in detailed technical guidance to the program team
Basic Qualifications:
Must have a Bachelor of Science degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) discipline AND 12 years of related professional/military experience OR a Master of Science degree in a STEM discipline AND 10 years of related professional/military experience, OR a STEM Ph.D. AND 8 years of related professional/military experience
- Must have an active US Government Top Secret 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 SCI within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
- Must have experience executing Systems Engineering processes, including across the full Systems Engineering lifecycle: SRR, PDR, CDR, TIM/TEM, TRB, CCB
- Must have experience briefing or leading technical discussions with outside stakeholders including other IPTs, customer representatives or supplier personnel
- Must have experience in at least ONE of these fields: architectural studies, technical baseline definition, requirements & interface management, Interface Control Document (ICD) generation, hardware/software integration, test planning & execution and system sustainment
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree (Master’s or Ph.D.) in a STEM field
- Current/active SCI
- Experience in technical leadership as IPT/sub-IPT lead or technical/thread lead in systems engineering, vehicle engineering, avionics, software, electronics, or mission payloads
- Experience in developing, preparing and defending proposal bids for technical programs, including Task Assessments, Basis of Estimates, and Tech Volumes
- Demonstrated training proficiency
- Experience in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)
- Experience in system-level / hardware-in-the-loop integration/test
- Demonstrated experience in Systems Engineering specialty disciplines (cybersecurity, safety, EMI or Human Factors)
- Demonstrated championing of technical change that resulted in performance improvements and/or team efficiencies
Skills Required
- Bachelor's in STEM + 12 years OR Master's in STEM + 10 years OR Ph.D. in STEM + 8 years of related professional/military experience
- Active US Government Top Secret clearance (background investigation within last 6 years or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation)
- Ability to obtain and maintain SCI within a reasonable amount of time
- Ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance within a reasonable amount of time
- Experience executing Systems Engineering processes across the full lifecycle (SRR, PDR, CDR, TIM/TEM, TRB, CCB)
- Experience briefing or leading technical discussions with outside stakeholders including IPTs, customers, or suppliers
- Experience in at least one: architectural studies, technical baseline definition, requirements & interface management, ICD generation, hardware/software integration, test planning & execution, or system sustainment
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills for both executive-level and detailed technical communication
- Willingness/ability to travel up to 25%
- Advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in a STEM field
- Current/active SCI
- Experience in technical leadership as IPT/sub-IPT lead or technical/thread lead
- Experience developing, preparing and defending proposal bids (Task Assessments, BOEs, Tech Volumes)
- Demonstrated training proficiency
- Experience in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)
- Experience in system-level / hardware-in-the-loop integration and test
- Demonstrated experience in Systems Engineering specialty disciplines (cybersecurity, safety, EMI or Human Factors)
- Demonstrated championing of technical change that resulted in performance improvements or team efficiencies
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.





