Principal OR Senior Principal Navigation Engineer

Relocation assistance may be available. Secret clearance required. Travel: 25%.

About the role

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. 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.

Northrop Grumman’s Aeronautics Systems – Research & Advanced Design (R&AD) transforms breakthrough ideas into mission-ready capabilities through intelligent anticipation. We’re the front-end design engine, defining what comes next. From developing cutting-edge next-generation future aircraft to trailblazing collaborative autonomous platforms, we push the boundaries of technology and forge industry-leading partnerships that set new standards for what’s possible. Our team owns the full lifecycle of advanced concept creation, from visionary early-stage designs and rapid prototyping to high-impact demonstrations and solving the toughest technical challenges in survivability, autonomy, and battle management.

This position is located in El Segundo, CA, and involves deploying forward-leaning avionics, guidance, navigation, and control systems for developmental concepts for air vehicles, weapons, and other platforms. Responsibilities include technical planning, system integration, verification and validation, cost and risk analysis, and supportability and effectiveness analyses for total systems. You will ensure the logical and systematic conversion of customer or product requirements into total systems solutions that acknowledge technical, schedule, and cost constraints, and perform functional analysis, timeline analysis, detailed trade studies, requirements allocation, and interface definition studies.

Responsibilities

• Perform lab testing of the navigation subsystem
• Support flight test
• Resolve anomalies
• Facilitate, support, and perform navigation subsystem solution trades
• Interface with various suppliers
• Navigation solution simulation integration

Requirements

Principal Navigation Engineer

• Bachelor's Degree in a relevant Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) discipline and 5 years of related experience; OR a Master's Degree in a relevant STEM with 3 years of related experience; OR a PhD in a relevant STEM discipline with 1 year of related experience
• General understanding of the GPS system and how it works
• General understanding of inertial sensors and how they work
• Ability to obtain and maintain a US Government Secret clearance and Special Program Access

Senior Principal Navigation Engineer

• Bachelor's Degree in a relevant Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) discipline and 8 years of related experience; OR a Master's Degree in a relevant STEM with 6 years of related experience; OR a PhD in a relevant STEM discipline with 4 years of related experience
• General understanding of the GPS system and how it works
• General understanding of inertial sensors and how they work
• Ability to obtain and maintain a US Government Secret clearance and Special Program Access

Preferred Qualifications

• A current active in-scope US Government Secret security clearance or higher, with the ability to obtain Special Program Access (SAP)
• Experience with flight test and nav data post-flight analysis
• Experience managing suppliers
• Good understanding of the GPS system, GPS Signal in Space characteristics, DGPS systems, inertial sensors, GPS/INS tightly coupled Kalman filters, GPS receiver design
• Familiarity with navigation solution requirements development
• Experience with requirements verification test development and implementation
• Proficiency with test equipment (oscilloscopes, signal generators, signal analyzers, multi-meters)

Pay

Primary Level Salary Range: $114,000.00 - $171,000.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $142,200.00 - $213,400.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills, and current market conditions. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage
• Life and disability insurance
• Savings plan
• Company-paid holidays
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business