IR Plume Mod/Sim Systems Engineer - Level 2

Northrop Grumman•Colorado Springs, CO

1d•$83,400 - $125,200•Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Space Systems, Multi-Domain Operations, and Missile Defense Integration Business Unit (BU) has an exciting career opportunity for a Modeling & Simulation Systems Engineer – Level 2 (IR Plume Mod/Sim Systems Engineer) to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position will be located on-site at Schriever Space Force Base, in Colorado Springs, CO. This role requires employees to be onsite daily with no option for remote/hybrid work. Threat Systems Engineering (TSE) is responsible for the development and delivery of high-fidelity threat modeling products in support of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and MDA’s Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). TSE is responsible for the development of models and simulations (M&S) used to stimulate element models of MDA’s BMDS, including kinematic missile modeling, IR signature modeling, data production/analysis activities, and maintenance/sustainment activities for the entire TSE software baseline. TSE is a cornerstone element to the Threat and Advanced Simulations Development (TASD) contract.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) discipline preferred with 2 years of technical experience, or 0-2 years’ experience with a Masters’ Degree.
Ability and willingness to travel up to 10% of the time to support business needs.
Applicants must have a current active in-scope U.S. Government issued Secret security clearance at the time of application which is required to start.
Proficiency in Python, MATLAB or other scripting languages
Foundational understanding of aerothermodynamics, radiative transfer, fluid dynamics, and molecular spectroscopy
Foundational understanding of data analysis concepts.
Basic conceptual understanding of flight dynamics and aerodynamics

Nice To Haves

Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Optical Sciences, or a related STEM field
Strong math, physics or engineering background
Modeling, Simulation, and automation experience
Experience with atmospheric modeling codes (e.g. MODTRAN)
Experience with JANNAF radiative signature codes
Experience working in Linux based distributed computational environments

Responsibilities

Handling large-scale, multi-dimensional array datasets
Validating simulated data against measured test or flight data
Meticulous verification and validation of large, technical datasets
Systematic Root-Cause Analysis: Ability to logically isolate variables and trace errors to determine if a simulation failure is caused by bad input data, software bugs, or system configuration issues.
Legacy & Custom Code Debugging: Skilled at reading, parsing, and fixing errors in undocumented, in-house tools or legacy scripts (e.g., Python, MATLAB, C++) without relying on external support or documentation.
Log Parsing & Error Identification: Proficient at reading complex log files, console outputs, and stack traces to quickly pinpoint why a simulation run or data conversion tool crashed.
Data Sanity and “Silent Error” Detection: Able to identify and fix “silent failures” – where a tool runs to completion but produces physically or mathematically incorrect data.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to prioritize and execute tasks and enjoy working in a collaborative team environment.
Ability to create and work within schedules and timelines