Senior Principal Test Engineer - IPTL Lead (Onsite, Secret)

Northrop Grumman; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 129,000 - 194,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Savings plan

Paid holidays and PTO

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems in Northridge, CA seeks a Sr Principal Test Engineer – IPTL to lead tests for the AARGM-ER program. This onsite role supports lab testing, flight campaigns, and government facility coordination with a DoD Secret clearance.

The position requires a STEM degree with extensive flight-test, system integration, and test planning experience; strong leadership and coordination with internal/external customers is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field and 8 years of related testing experience or Master’s degree and 6 years of experience or PhD and 4 years of experience.
• Hands-on experience with test equipment such as oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, DMMs, signal generators, and power supplies.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical and mechanical schematics.
• Experience with flight software and system architecture.
• Proven background in flight-test engineering, system integration, qualification testing, and requirements tracking.
• Active DoD Secret clearance at the time of hire.

Responsibilities

• Work with internal and external customers to define and document instrumentation, data requirements, and test planning—including acquisition, processing, and analysis—to satisfy test objectives.
• Partner with the Cost Account Manager (CAM) to ensure budget needs are met and Earned-Value-Management (EVM) estimates (EACs) are accurate.
• Integrate Circuit Card Assemblies (CCAs) and Printed Wiring Boards (PWBs) into higher-level systems using schematics and wiring diagrams.
• Create, validate, and verify test plans, procedures, and test reports in accordance with program standards.
• Lead the engineering team that supports software and programmable-logic integration for formal test events.
• Plan, organize, and manage hardware requirements for both in-house and external test environments, ensuring all equipment is available and functional.
• Chair test-readiness reviews for internal events such as Formal Qualification Tests, captive-carriage trials, and live-fire tests.
• Attend external test events (flight clearances, captive-carriage, live-fire) and perform the necessary setup, data acquisition, and post-test activities.
• Serve as the CAM representative, presenting cost, schedule, technical risks, and opportunities to senior leadership.
• Perform software and programmable-logic integration using spread-bench, short-round, and specialized test equipment; troubleshoot issues as needed.
• Provide regular status updates and flag blockers to upper leadership to drive timely resolution.

Skills

Flight software

System integration

Schematic reading

Test engineering

DoD clearance

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field

Master’s degree

PhD

Tools

Jira

Bitbucket

Confluence

Crucible

Job description

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems in Northridge, CA seeks a Sr Principal Test Engineer – IPTL to lead tests for the AARGM-ER program. This onsite role supports lab testing, flight campaigns, and government facility coordination with a DoD Secret clearance.

The position requires a STEM degree with extensive flight-test, system integration, and test planning experience; strong leadership and coordination with internal/external customers is essential.