Principal / Sr. Principal Specialty Test Engineer

Relocation assistance may be available. Secret clearance required after starting employment (US citizenship required). Travel: 10% of the time.

About the role

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems is seeking an experienced Test Engineer to support our Armament Systems site in Plymouth, MN. This role can be filled at the principal (Level 3) or senior principal (Level 4) level, depending on experience. The team develops and produces medium and large-caliber ammunition as well as precision capabilities for direct and indirect fire systems, leading the industry in lifecycle support for medium-caliber cannons, miniature precision strike weapons, survivability solutions, and next-generation tactical ammunition.

Responsibilities

• Ensure product quality by creating production test equipment for military/aerospace products, including programming, debugging, and deploying equipment that adjusts, calibrates, and certifies device specifications.
• Design, develop, and implement cost-effective methods of testing for Design Verification (DVT).
• Maintain and update test equipment supporting functional board-level and final acceptance testers, and support production floor test equipment.
• Understand the functionality of several products to reduce test time or suggest additional tests; co-lead design reviews and design for testability.
• Assist with fixture fabrication and ordering of parts, and manage suppliers.
• Prepare test and diagnostic programs, design test fixtures, instrument racks, and equipment.
• Compile data and define changes required in test equipment, test procedures, manufacturing processes, or test requirements.
• Function as liaison between Design Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering to ensure innovative new product designs can be manufactured cost-effectively with high quality; perform Design for Testability and coverage analysis.
• Understand customer requirements documentation and translate to test cases for DVT and production test.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent discipline.
• Principal (Level 3): 5 years of professional experience in building and maintaining automated test equipment, or a Master’s degree and 3 years of professional experience.
• Senior Principal Test Engineer (Level 4): 8 years of professional experience in building and maintaining automated test equipment (ATE), or a Master’s degree plus 6 years of experience, or a PhD plus 4 years of experience.
• Experience as an Electrical Engineer or Computer Engineer oriented to hardware.
• Proven experience in programming languages; 1–2 years of experience in LabVIEW.
• Ability to read and understand schematics, embedded software, and communication protocols.
• Digital and analog electronics experience to design circuitry for signal conditioning and isolation.
• Knowledge of electrical and functional testers, including interfaces, pneumatic systems, communication protocols, PXI, and GPIB instruments test platforms.
• On-site work with flexible work arrangement; ability to travel 10% of the time (domestic).
• Solid communication skills and ability to clearly establish verbal communication with a remote audience.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks, excellent problem-solving skills, team-oriented, self-motivated, and leadership abilities.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with cross-functional team members.
• Ability to work independently as well as in a fast-paced, rapidly changing, short turn-around team environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering.
• Experience with high-volume device assembly and PCB fabrication practices.
• Experience designing test fixtures and product testing under high and low temperature extremes.
• LabVIEW, Python, or C++ and object-oriented programming (OOP) experience.
• Experience with ICT testing and fixture development (Keysight i3070 preferable).
• Green Belt or experience using Six Sigma tools: DOE, R&R, MSE, DFSS.
• PWB layout and design experience.

Pay

• Principal (Level 3) salary range: $98,900 – $148,300.
• Senior Principal (Level 4) salary range: $123,400 – $185,000.

The above salary ranges represent general guidelines. Northrop Grumman considers factors such as scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate’s experience, education, skills, and current market conditions when determining base salary offers. Depending on the position, employees may also be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses reward individual contributions and 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 and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.