Senior Principal Systems Engineer – Spaceflight Autonomy (SCI) Onsite

Northrop Grumman; Virginia (MN); On-site; USD 114,000 - 213,400; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Overtime eligibility

Discretionary bonus

Health Insurance

Job summary

Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector in Dulles, VA seeks a Pr./Sr Principal Systems Engineer (Level 3 or 4) for on-site work on a 9/80 schedule, every other Friday off. This role requires active SCI clearance and focuses on fault management, autonomy, and spacecraft systems engineering.

Responsibilities include designing and validating flight software, performing systems trades, and supporting proposals and new business efforts within a high‑tech aerospace program.

Qualifications

• Requires active SCI clearance at time of application.
• Experience in Systems Engineering for mission-critical applications.
• Mission and/or vehicle systems engineering experience.
• Software coding or scripting experience.

Responsibilities

• Perform systems engineering functions including requirements synthesis and flow-down, verification/validation planning, system trades study support, systems analysis, coordination of design efforts, and management of technical budgets & interfaces.
• Apply these systems engineering functions in fault management and system autonomy.
• Assist in formulation of system design, definition of concept of operations, and systems analysis for failure modes and effects, including mitigation through autonomous or operational controls.
• Design, implement, and validate Fault Management and System Autonomy Flight Software using flight-like simulations and flight hardware.
• Be knowledgeable in spacecraft subsystem design, spacecraft testing, flight software best practices, and mission operations.
• May be called on to assist in new business activities such as conceptual design and analysis for proposals and funded studies, including authoring sections.
• Possess presentation skills and the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to technical or non-technical audiences.

Skills

Systems Engineering

Fault Management

Autonomy

System Analysis

Communication

Software scripting

Presentation skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree

Tools

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector in Dulles, VA seeks a Pr./Sr Principal Systems Engineer (Level 3 or 4) for on-site work on a 9/80 schedule, every other Friday off. This role requires active SCI clearance and focuses on fault management, autonomy, and spacecraft systems engineering.

Responsibilities include designing and validating flight software, performing systems trades, and supporting proposals and new business efforts within a high‑tech aerospace program.