Principal Systems Engineer - Civil Space Systems

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE TYPE: None

TRAVEL: Yes, 25% 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.

This Systems Engineering position is for a Human Spaceflight Principal Systems Engineer (T03) on a Civil and Space Systems (CSS) program at Northrop Grumman located in Sterling, VA and Gilbert, AZ. In this role, the Systems Engineer will perform duties contributing to space vehicle systems engineering test activities.  The job responsibilities will be as an individual-contributor and deliverable/product lead within a multi-disciplinary engineering team.  

Successful candidate will perform traditional Systems Engineering functions, including support of verification/validation planning, support of subsystem test planning, development of system test plans, management and review of system test designs, development of system/subsystem test trades, support of system level testing in a production environment including environmental testing and supporting closure of test program verification notices.  Responsibilities will also include interaction with program, functional and customer leadership.

The candidate must be knowledgeable in space systems, spacecraft subsystems design, or mission operations.  Position will also include responsibilities relating to integration, testing, and operational readiness of spacecraft and payloads.  Candidate may be called on to assist in new business activities, such as conceptual design and analysis for proposals and funded studies and may include authoring sections for both.

Duties:

• Perform test planning and support test execution for one or more moderately complex (or portions of complex) components, subsystems, and/or functional systems. 

• Audit verification criteria for component, subsystem, and/or functional systems tests.

• Development of system level test plan to align required system level verification activities as defined in the Systems Requirements Document 

• Development of joint test plans with the customer (NASA) and their associated partner organizations (European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, etc.) for verification of interfaces with government furnished elements 

• Coordinate/oversee subsystem level test plan development (led by the subsystem area) to ensure subsystem level testing is properly accounted for/incorporated at the system level 

• Work with Integration & Test (I&T), engineering, and mission operations to design / develop test procedures/scripts for vehicle testing 

• Develop and manage the space vehicle Test Like You Fly (TLYF) exceptions and mitigations

• Support review of component level test documentation

• Support appropriate components/subsystem/system level Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs) and post-test  reviews

• Provide SE support to I&T for duration of vehicle test campaign including FRB/MRB support, data reviews and test report generation

• Troubleshoot and develop solutions to challenging Engineering problems

• Support Systems Test Cost Account Manager in maintaining/statusing baseline cost and schedule plans including EVMS

Basic Qualifications:

• B.S. in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Math or related + 5 years of experience, or Masters of Science degree in technical field + 3 years of experience

• Experience with all phases of system development life cycle from product requirements definition to product launch

• Experience leading and/or developing system level test plans / test requirements documents

• Experience in design and development of Spacecraft Test and Operational Language (STOL) scripts

• Experience leading and/or supporting the conduct of test programs

• Experience in supporting failure review board investigations and development of corrective actions

• Experience in supporting development of Test Like You Fly exceptions and mitigations

• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams including internal and customer stakeholders in the review and adjudication of issues associated with test plans, test procedures, test report deliverables

• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government DoD security clearance

Preferred Qualifications:

• M.S. in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Math or related area.

• Experience in: avionics or digital electronics design, power systems design, telecommunications design, thermal design, and/or ECLSS design

• Experience with payload integration

• Understanding of spacecraft integration & test, launch, and mission operations

• Familiarity with Command and Telemetry database content

• Experience with human spaceflight vehicle development including integration & test

• Desired experience includes Requirements Management Tools such as DOORS, various analysis engineering tools such as MATLAB, and collaborative applications such as Confluence. 

• Experience supporting compilation and organization of verification evidence documentation for verification closures with delivery to customer.

• Actual spacecraft operations and related ground systems expertise is always a plus. 

• Test experience in one or more of the following areas:  Active thermal control systems (fluid pumps) integrated with environmental control systems (heat exchangers); Life Support Systems; Fault tolerant/multi string computing and power architectures; Systems requiring crew

Salary Range: $110,300.00 - $165,500.00

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.