Principal Engineer Systems
Northrop Grumman
- Location
- United States Maryland Elkton
- Work model
- On-Site
- Level
- Principal
- Posted
- Sep 3, 2026
About this role
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time Description At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history. Northrop Grumman is currently seeking a Principal Engineer Systems – Level 3 to join our team at our Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and Elkton, Maryland locations to support the Propulsion Systems and Controls (PS&C) business unit. In this role you will be working to support our Propulsion Systems & Controls Business Unit in developing the systems architecture to develop propulsion hardware such as valves, solid rocket motors, scramjets, ramjets, and thrusters for launch vehicles, missile systems, and space missions. Our programs offer a unique experience to Systems Engineers, as you will get to experience the full Lifecyle development process from preliminary design to final test and delivery. We work with many customers from the Navy to the Air Force, as well as multiple private industry partners. The job will require the blending of Systems Engineering Principles and their application to hardware development programs at the subsystem level.
Job Responsibilities
Provide technical leadership and coordination between engineering disciplines, program management, and external stakeholders to ensure an integrated solution. Determine systems engineering tasks required for project planning and execution, communicate milestones and need dates to program leads. Produce and maintain key systems engineering artifacts (Requirements specifications, ICDs, V&V matrices, logical/physical/functional architecture, and verification technical reports) in a model-based systems engineering environment (CAMEO). Define and plan, testing activities in conjunction with propulsion engineering, including propulsion tests at the Elkton campus, Ronkonkoma campus, or external ranges. Define and maintain a requirements decomposition strategy across subsystems and disciplines. Lead requirements and architecture reviews (PDR, CDR-level artifacts) to ensure completeness, consistency, feasibility, and testability. Lead Risk and Opportunity meetings on behalf of technical and programmatic team. Demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong social skills, and ability to build consensus among peers while building solid relationships with team members.
Basic Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a STEM‑related discipline with at least 5 years of relevant experience, or master’s degree in engineering with at least 3 years of experience. Experience performing systems engineering activities on technical programs (requirements, design, integration, or test). Experience with requirements development and management, including writing clear, testable requirements and maintaining a requirements baseline Experience establishing and maintaining requirements traceability (e.g., between stakeholder needs, system requirements, lower-level requirements, design, and test). Familiarity working in an MBSE environment (SysML preferred) using tools such as Cameo/MagicDraw, Rhapsody, or similar, and integrating models with requirements (e.g., DOORS). Experience supporting or