Principal/Sr Principal Engineer Systems Test

Northrop Grumman•San Diego, CA

8d•$103,600 - $193,900•Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal / Sr. Principal System Test Engineer (STE) – T03/T04 to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within the Systems Test Engineering organization, supporting the NATO Test Integrated Product Team (IPT). This position will be on site and located in Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), CA. Responsibilities include working with STE Teammates, Test IPT Leadership, Lab Operations Leadership, and Test Planning & Execution (TP&E) teams to successfully plan, and execute dry run and formal test activities to evaluated, and certify hardware and software for ground and flight release. Must have the ability to communicate up to leadership, and across to teammates and team members. Must be able to thrive in a fast-paced work environment with high expectations, significantly diverse assignments, and collaborative team settings across all levels. A successful track record of program performance and test experience is required.

Requirements

Must have a Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) discipline with 5 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in STEM with 3 years of related engineering experience (for Principal role).
Must have a Bachelor's degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) discipline with 9 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master's degree in STEM with 7 years of related engineering experience, OR a PhD in STEM with 4 years of related engineering experience (for Sr. Principal role).
Must have an active U.S. Government Secret Clearance or higher clearance, with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation.
Experience in System Test, Software Development, and/or Systems Engineering.
Experience developing verification/validation strategy and verification metrics maintenance.
Experience developing and executing system-level test procedures and maintaining requirement-to-test traceability.
Flexibility to travel internationally up to 20% to support Ground/Flight Test Events.
Ability to support weekends, multiple shifts, and off hours on site as business needs.

Nice To Haves

Flight Test Experience
Experience writing scripts (Python preferred); experience with Java/C++
Experience with communications & networking subsystems.
Extensive experience developing and executing System level test procedures
Understanding of Agile Test methodology
Control Account Management (CAM) certified.
Previous experience with hot bench and overall lab operations support
Ability to obtain and maintain access to Special Programs (SAP); US Government Top Secret clearance.
Experience with Windows/Linux operating systems and Virtual Machines (VMs).
Tools: IBM Rational (DOORS/ClearQuest) and/or Atlassian (JIRA/Git/Confluence).

Responsibilities

Plan, coordinate, and execute dry-run and formal system-level test activities to evaluate and certify hardware/software for ground and flight release.
Develop, execute, and document integrated software/hardware test procedures to verify functional compliance with system requirements and support verification/validation of architecture and protocol upgrades.
Design nominal, off-nominal, end-to-end test scenarios assessing performance, reliability, interoperability, and operational effectiveness (including navigation, communications, and networking subsystems).
Analyze system requirements and translate them into test strategies, detailed test plans, procedures, acceptance criteria, and requirement-to-test traceability.
Support integration, functional, regression testing in laboratory and operational test environments; coordinate data collection, analysis, reporting, and closure of verification metrics.
Drive lab configuration technical rigor, process rigor, and compliance with company/program/security requirements; support lab operations and hot bench activities as required.
Apply Agile testing practices (including continuous integration and test-driven development concepts as appropriate) to enable iterative development and rapid feedback.
Collaborate across systems/software/hardware/cybersecurity/network & communications teams to integrate and verify subsystem changes.
Communicate test status, findings, risks, and recommendations clearly to engineering leadership and program stakeholders; present at pre- and post-test reviews.
Work independently on assigned tasks, manage multiple priorities, and deliver against program schedules in a fast-paced environment.
Flexibility to support weekends, multiple shifts, and off hours on site.
Travel: Up to 20% (as needed for ground/flight test events.