Staff Hardware Engineer: RF/Digital Lead (Secret Clearance)

Northrop Grumman; San Diego (CA); Hybrid; USD 161,000 - 241,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health plan

Paid time off

9/80 work schedule

Education assistance

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems in San Diego, CA is seeking a Staff Hardware Engineer (Level 5) to lead RF/digital hardware sustainment on a complex program for F-22 and related systems. This full-time onsite role reports to the Test Engineering Manager.

The ideal candidate has 11+ years of experience in STEM, active Secret clearance, and hands-on expertise with RF test equipment, schematics interpretation, and cross‑functional collaboration across hardware, systems, and manufacturing

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline with 11+ years of related engineering experience; or Master’s with 9+ years; or PhD with 7+ years.
• Experience with classified/unclassified networks and secure data/storage; government interfaces.
• Hands-on electrical and RF troubleshooting using multimeters, spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes.
• Ability to read specifications, schematics, and translate to test/troubleshooting approaches.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership for RF/digital hardware sustainment across the program.
• Define and drive hardware test strategies, architectures, and equipment roadmaps.
• Lead cross-functional teams to resolve complex hardware and test issues.
• Analyze data to identify trends and drive corrective actions.
• Collaborate with systems/software/manufacturing to ensure robust integration.

Skills

RF hardware

Digital hardware

Test method development

Cross-functional leadership

Electrical testing

Troubleshooting

Schematic interpretation

Education

Bachelor’s degree in STEM

Master’s degree in STEM

PhD in STEM

Tools

C

C++

LabVIEW

Python

FPGA/VHDL

Job description

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems in San Diego, CA is seeking a Staff Hardware Engineer (Level 5) to lead RF/digital hardware sustainment on a complex program for F-22 and related systems. This full-time onsite role reports to the Test Engineering Manager.

The ideal candidate has 11+ years of experience in STEM, active Secret clearance, and hands-on expertise with RF test equipment, schematics interpretation, and cross‑functional collaboration across hardware, systems, and manufacturing