Northrop Grumman logo

Senior Staff Engineer Electronics Architect

Northrop Grumman

Los Angeles, CAFull-time$193–289K/yrSeen 6 days agoSeen in employer's feed 6 days ago

Most applications go out cold — see where you stand first. No sign-up to start.

You apply on the employer's site, with no Olive account needed.

Watch jobs like this.

Don't just apply. Show up ready.

Olive works from this exact posting.

At a glance

Compensation
$193–289K/yr
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Schedule
Full-time
Work Authorization
US work authorization required

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Requirements

Credentials this posting asks for.

Secret clearance

Job overview

Northrop Grumman seeks a Senior Staff Engineer, Electronics Architect to lead technical architecture, integration, and validation for complex mixed-signal electronics products. The role emphasizes inertial measurement unit architecture, test planning, and production test solutions, partnering across hardware, software, firmware, and program teams. The engineer will guide development through verification and production transition in an aerospace environment.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Product ArchitectureProduct IntegrationMinimal DirectionNI LabWindows/CVIC/C++HDLMatlabFPGA DevelopmentXilinx VivadoSchematic CaptureLayout DesignCadence AllegroAltiumSiemens XpeditionDigital ElectronicsAnalog ElectronicsPower SystemsCircuit AnalysisPSpice/LTspiceHigh-Speed Digital DesignElectronics Test EquipmentDifferential Digital InterfacesLVDSUSBRS-422/RS-485PCIeUARTI2CSPIRS-232MIL-STD-1553Hardware TroubleshootingSoftware/Firmware TroubleshootingEarned Value ManagementPayload IntegrationAvionics IntegrationDigital Electronics IntegrationRisk AnalysisCommunicationsAerospace Integration and Test

Qualifications

Bachelor's in STEM or EquivalentMaster's With 12 Years or PhD With 10 Years14+ Years Relevant Engineering ExperienceActive DoD Secret ClearanceSAP Clearance EligibilityEngineering Leadership ExperienceHardware and Software Lifecycle ExperienceEngineering Documentation ExperienceTest Execution Strategy ExperienceU.S. Citizenship

Benefits

Relocation Assistance
Medical Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
401(k) Match
Tuition Assistance
Paid Time Off

Full job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% 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.

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is seeking a Senior Staff Engineer, Electronics Architect to serve as a product technical lead across complex mixed signal electronics, hardware, software, and firmware development efforts. This role requires deep technical expertise spanning analog, digital, power, FPGA, and embedded test architectures, combined with strong leadership in system integration and product test execution. The selected candidate will lead the technical proposal strategy, research effort, integration, and validation of advanced electronic systems with a strong emphasis on inertial measurement unit (IMU) architecture, test planning, and production test solution development. This position will partner closely with software/firmware, electrical, mechanical, systems, and program leadership to ensure successful execution from development through verification and transition to production.

Key Responsibilities

  • Serve as the technical lead for complex electronics products, driving architecture, integration, and validation activities across hardware, software, and firmware domains.

  • Lead development of test architecture and test strategies to verify and validate requirements across multiple product lines.

  • Provide subject matter expertise in the integration and testing of electronics, power, and digital systems, with emphasis on IMU-based products.

  • Evaluate technical tradeoffs during engineering development and guide design decisions to support product performance, testability, manufacturability, and program execution.

  • Partner with design and integration teams to ensure successful incorporation of new hardware and software/firmware into test environments.

  • Lead multidisciplinary teams responsible for developing and integrating Production Test Solutions.

  • Support requirements flow-down, requirements management, verification planning, and technical closure of design requirements.

  • Generate and review technical documentation including specifications, interface control documents, technical reports, engineering studies, and proposal content.

  • Develop, debug, review, and oversee test code used for integration and verification activities.

  • Generate, review, and release engineering documentation such as electrical schematics, wire tabs, test specifications, assembly drawings, and interconnect diagrams.

  • Interface with internal functional engineering teams, program leadership, and customer technical representatives as needed.

  • Provide leadership in technical planning, team building, collaboration, mentoring, and execution in a fast-paced aerospace environment.

Basic Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or another STEM discipline from an accredited university with 14 years of relevant engineering experience; or a Master’s degree with 12 years of relevant engineering experience; or a PhD with 10 years of relevant engineering experience.

  • Active DoD Secret clearance or higher, with a background investigation completed within the last 5 years or current enrollment in Continuous Evaluation.

  • Ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance within a reasonable time frame to meet business needs.

  • Experience serving as an Integrated Product Team Lead, Technical Lead, Hardware Architect, Software Architect, or in another engineering leadership role with demonstrated team-building and organizational skills.

  • Experience across hardware and software development lifecycles, including design, test and evaluation, and transition to production.

  • Ability to develop, debug, and review test code.

  • Experience generating, reviewing, and releasing engineering documentation such as schematics, test specifications, assembly drawings, and interconnect diagrams.

  • Ability to interface with teams of major programs to help develop executable strategies for test execution, and technical skill alignment in support of contractual and financial milestones.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Background in product architecture design and integration.

  • Ability to work effectively with minimal direction.

  • Experience with NI LabWindows/CVI, C/C++, HDL (Verilog or VHDL), and Matlab.

  • FPGA development using Xilinx Vivado Design Suite.

  • Experience with schematic capture and layout design tools such as Cadence Allegro, Altium, Siemens Xpedition, or other similar platforms.

  • Proficiency with digital and analog electronics, power systems, circuit analysis (PSpice/LTspice), high-speed digital design, and standard electronics test equipment (oscilloscope, DMM, Logic analyzer, AWG, spectrum analyzer, etc.).

  • Familiarity with differential digital interfaces such as LVDS, USB, RS-422 / RS-485, and PCIe.

  • Experience with communication interfaces like UART, I2C, SPI, RS-232, and MIL-STD-1553.

  • Hands-on troubleshooting experience with electronic hardware and software/firmware.

  • Experience and/or training in Earned Value Management Systems.

  • Additional experience in payload integration, avionics integration, digital electronics integration, risk analysis, communications, or aerospace integration and test.

About the Organization

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is a trusted provider of mission-enabling solutions for global security. The Engineering and Sciences organization advances innovation across engineering disciplines to design, develop, produce, and sustain high-performance products that deliver decisive capability to the warfighter. Team members are empowered to solve complex technical challenges in a collaborative environment built on technical excellence, mission focus, and continuous improvement.

Work Schedule and Benefits

This position follows a 9/80 work schedule, allowing employees who work nine-hour days Monday through Thursday to take every other Friday off. As a full-time employee, Northrop Grumman offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k), educational assistance, life insurance, employee assistance programs, paid time off, wellness resources, and employee discounts.

Additional information is available at Northrop Grumman Total Rewards (https://web.prod.am-usge1.moveworks.io/r?v2\_T5dgIaqL9t0w5FNi) .

Primary Level Salary Range: $192,800.00 - $289,200.00

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.

Job Category: Engineering

How this job compares

Set against the 11,457 open Systems Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 3, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$193–289K/yr
  • California median$143–211K/yr1,746 salary ranges
  • US median$116–190K/yr8,475 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $241K, is 37% above the California median midpoint ($176K) — in the top quarter of Systems Engineer salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 2,057 open Systems Engineer jobs in California and 11,457 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in California
Experience
This posting asks for at least 10 years of experience — more than three in four Systems Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for (median 5 years, across 9,561 postings).
Education
4,551 of the 11,457 open Systems Engineer jobs (40%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 3, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

Prepare for this role

You've read the whole posting — now see how you match it.