Senior Principal Systems Engineer - IFC Lead (Aerospace)

Northrop Grumman; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance available

Top Secret clearance

10% travel

Job summary

Northrop Grumman in Rancho Bernardo, CA, seeks a Senior Principal Systems Engineer to lead IFC integration across subsystems and external partners. The role spans defining interfaces, certifying software/hardware builds, and guiding cross-functional teams to deliver complex capabilities.

The position emphasizes strong systems engineering, documentation, and collaboration with program management, software, hardware, and test teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in STEM with typically 9+ years of related experience; or a Master’s with 7+; or PhD with 4+.
• Demonstrated experience in Systems Engineering with a focus on interface control, integration.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to understand complex system interactions and define valid solutions.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills for technical documentation and leadership reviews.
• Ability to obtain and maintain the required security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical authority for IFC on the program, owning the interface baseline across allocated subsystems and external stakeholders.
• Define and execute the IFC certification process for software and hardware builds.
• Lead and/or chair IFC-related meetings and reviews.
• Evaluate ECPs and change requests for IFC impacts with clear recommendations.
• Develop a strategic IFC roadmap aligned with capability increments.
• Lead root-cause investigations for IFC anomalies and drive corrective actions.
• Prepare and deliver IFC certification packages with rationale, evidence, risks, and recommendations.
• Mentor junior/mid-level engineers in IFC management and interface analysis.

Skills

Interface control

Systems engineering

Analytical thinking

Technical leadership

Written communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Master’s degree

PhD

Job description

Northrop Grumman in Rancho Bernardo, CA, seeks a Senior Principal Systems Engineer to lead IFC integration across subsystems and external partners. The role spans defining interfaces, certifying software/hardware builds, and guiding cross-functional teams to deliver complex capabilities.

The position emphasizes strong systems engineering, documentation, and collaboration with program management, software, hardware, and test teams.