Principal Digital Design Engineer (AHT)

Northrop Grumman; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 188,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Paid holidays

Paid time off

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems in Northridge, CA seeks a Principal Digital Design Engineer to plan, layout, and document PCB designs for high‑reliability hardware. You will use Mentor Graphics Xpedition to produce CAD data and ensure manufacturability across rigid, flex, and rigid‑flex assemblies.

You will work on FPGA/ASIC design across the full product life cycle, collaborating with electrical and mechanical teams, and ensuring designs meet military specifications.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in STEM with 5+ years of related experience or Master's with 3+ years of related experience.
• Experience drafting and designing PCB layouts and layer stack-ups.
• Knowledge of design for manufacturing (DFM) for CCA and PCB.
• Familiar with PCB design rules for multi‑layer (20+ layers).
• Ability to obtain US Government DoW Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

• Layout complex PCBs and flex circuits with impedance control.
• Coordinate with mechanical and electrical engineers for component placement and fit.
• Produce production-ready PCB, assembly, and component drawings.
• Maintain CAD libraries and data for fabrication.
• Evaluate electrical/mechanical behavior to influence layout decisions.

Skills

PCB layout

Layer stack-up

DFM rules

EMI/Signal integrity

Electronics design

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM with 5+ years experience

Master's degree in STEM with 3+ years experience

Tools

Mentor Graphics Xpedition

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

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 Defense Systems in Northridge, CA is currently seeking an experienced Principal Digital Design Engineer to join the Hardware Development and Integration Team.

In this role, the Principal Digital Design Engineer will plan, generate printing circuit board (PCB) stack-ups and layouts, draw and revise components, create circuit card assembly (CCA) and fabrication drawings, and establish references and standard data for PCB design artifacts. Utilizing computer-aided design (CAD) graphic tools such as Mentor Graphics Xpedition to complete details of critical layout drawings in accordance with standard engineering drafting practices, military specifications, as well as industry standards.

You will utilize your working knowledge of digital signal processing and digital interfaces to work on FPGA and ASIC Design across the full product life cycle process.

There is no remote work for this role and the selected candidate will be required to work full-time, on-site at our facility in Northridge, CA.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Layout of complex PCB’s and flex circuits, interconnect routing
• Interface with electrical and mechanical engineers to work through component placement, routing, mechanical fitment for rigid, flex, and rigid-flex assemblies
• Design to electrical requirements, mechanical outlines, for producibility and manufacturability
• Calculate layer stack-up based on industry standards, supplier capabilities, and engineering requirements
• Generate PCB, Assembly, Part Lists, and Component drawings
• Creates and documents the required electronic data file outputs for fabrication and manufacturing
• Understands technical theories of electrical and mechanical behavior of PCBs to influence layout decisions (i.e. impedance matching, differential pairs, strains and stresses, orientation of components, etc.)
• Maintain and update CAD central libraries
• Design, develop, modify and evaluate digital electronic parts, components or integrated circuitry for digital electronic equipment and other hardware systems.
• Determine design approaches and parameters.
• Analyze equipment to establish operating data, conduct experimental tests, and evaluate results.Select components and equipment based on analysis of specifications and reliability.
• Review vendor capability to support product development.

Basic Qualifications for Principal Digital Design Engineer

• Bachelor's degree in STEM field with 5 years of directly related professional working experience or Master's degree in STEM field with 3 years of directly related professional working experience
• Drafting and design experience of PCB layout and layer stack-up (analog, digital, RF, mixed signal topologies)
• Knowledge of industry specifications and design for manufacturing (DFM) rules for CCA and PCB design, fabrication and manufacturing
• Familiar with PCB design rules and techniques for CCA’s with >20 layers count from initial prototype to production.
• Ability to obtain a US Government DoW Secret security clearance

Preferred Qualifications for Principal Digital Design Engineer

• Advanced degree in STEM field
• Active US Government DoW Secret security clearance
• Knowledge of EDA tools package such as Mentor Graphics Xpedition.
• Experience with MIL-STD compliant designs that meet reliability and maintainability requirements.
• Experience in mixed signal CCA’s product design, development and system level integration.
• Experience with electronic packaging / mechanical design for airborne and space applications

Primary Level Salary Range: $125,300.00 - $187,900.00

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. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.