Principal Test Engineer

Relocation Assistance

Relocation assistance may be available.

Clearance Required for Start:
Yes.

Clearance Type:
Secret.

Yes, 10% of the time.

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.

• Prepare and manage facilities, labs, HWIL/SWIL test environments, and supporting infrastructure (planning, procurement, builds, readiness) for Phase 2 and future‑phase test activities.
• Translate customer contractual requirements into comprehensive, system‑level test solutions that balance technical performance, schedule, and cost constraints.
• Develop, lead, and execute integrated test plans, procedures, and schedules for subsystem, system‑level, and environmental test events (including In‑Air and Underwater Eject Tests).
• Ensure test requirement completeness and traceability by contributing to and maintaining the Integrated Test Plan (ITP) and associated verification/validation artifacts.
• Coordinate and integrate test activities across internal engineering teams, lab operations, range organizations, and external suppliers to achieve coherent test campaigns.
• Perform technical analysis of test results and system performance, generate system‑level evaluation reports, and provide data‑driven recommendations to drive design improvements and risk reduction.
• Review and oversee supplier test efforts, including test requirements, plans, procedures, verification and validation of delivered components, and test data review.
• Design and implement proof‑of‑concept and risk‑reduction test methods and demonstrations to identify and mitigate early program risks during Technology Maturation and Risk Reduction.
• Manage test data acquisition, configuration control, analysis, metrics, and documentation using modern toolsets (e.g., DOORS, Atlassian, data analytics) to support technical reviews and decision making.
• Serve as a primary technical liaison for test activities with customers, contractors, and senior stakeholders while ensuring compliance with safety, security, and export‑control requirements.

• Bachelor’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline from an accredited university and 5 years of relevant experience, OR a Master’s degree and 3 years of relevant experience, OR a Ph.D. and 1 year of relevant experience.
• Must be a US Citizen with an active DoD Secret Clearance, at time of application, current and within scope, with an investigation date within the last 6 years.
• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret Clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) approval within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company to meet its business needs.
• 3+ years of experience developing and executing integrated test plans and procedures for complex defense or aerospace systems, including requirements traceability within a systems engineering framework (e.g., DOORS or equivalent).
• 3+ years of experience planning and executing hardware‑in‑the‑loop and/or system‑level hardware test activities, including coordination across multi‑disciplinary teams in a fast‑paced environment.
• 3+ years of experience in development of innovative Test Automation solutions.
• 3+ years of experience documenting test requirements and methodologies in the requirements management system.
• 3+ years of experience assessing anomalies and developing resolutions to documented procedures in conjunction with Test and Quality Engineering.
• 3+…