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Systems Engineer/Senior Systems Engineer *

Northrop Grumman

Chantilly, VAFull-time$92–171K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$92–171K/yr
Location
Chantilly, VA
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.

Top Secret clearance

Job overview

Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector seeks a Level 2 or Level 3 Systems Engineer for its Chantilly team. The SV Onboarding Engineer performs mission onboarding for a ground-based service-oriented architecture, integrating space vehicles with ground systems and developing mission operations products for orbital analysis. The role is 100% onsite, works a 9/80 schedule, and requires an active SCI clearance at application; final clearances and program access are also required.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Ground System NetworkingPrivate Cloud DeploymentsData and Messaging BusesSoftware DeploymentHardware DeploymentSpacecraft Design and OperationsSpace-to-Ground Mission ArchitectureSpace Vehicle Systems EngineeringSatellite Ground SystemsCONOPS DevelopmentSpace Vehicle Design ConceptsMission Analysis TechniquesMission Analysis Software ToolsAgile Software DevelopmentAstrodynamicsRendezvous and Proximity OperationsSoftware Systems EngineeringOn-Orbit TestingIntegrated Ground Systems Testing

Qualifications

Bachelor's+2, Master's+0 or PhD+1 YearsActive Top-Secret/SCI ClearanceUS National Security Arena Experience

Benefits

Relocation Assistance
Medical Insurance
Paid Time Off

Full job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: SCI

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’s Space Sector is seeking a Systems Engineer Senior Systems Engineer – Level 2 or Level 3 to join our team in Chantilly, VA. This position is 100% onsite and cannot accommodate telecommute work.

The SV Onboarding Engineer will perform mission onboarding activities for a ground-based, service-oriented architecture intended to service next generation space capability. The team focuses on the space vehicle to ground segment integration to enable operations. This includes the integration of multiple heterogenous space vehicles into a common ground system. The Onboarding engineer will develop critical mission operations products in support of orbital analysis to include identification and integration of signature limitations and constraints.

This position will work a 9/80 schedule, with every other Friday off.

Your mission, should you choose to accept:

  • Equal parts technical competency, forward thinking ideas, and execution focus.

  • Functional understanding of ground system networking, private cloud deployments, data and messaging buses, software deployment, and hardware deployment.

  • Interact in an organized and solutions-oriented manner, with external entities who are contributing elements of the integrated ground segment.

  • Functional understanding of spacecraft design and operations.

  • Managing work in Jira to work closely with the ground software development team.

  • The work is managed between the low and high side and occurs on both. It will require organization skills to keep it all on track.

If this job description reads like it was written specifically for you, consider joining our team!

This position is contingent upon the candidate obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company.

This position can be filled at either a Level 2 or Level 3.

Basic Qualifications for Level 2:

  • Bachelor’s degree with 2 years of professional experience or Master’s degree with 0 years of professional experience.

  • Requires an active Top-Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) clearance at time of application

  • Experience in Space to Ground and Mission Architecture and Space Vehicle Systems Engineering

  • Experience with Satellite Ground Systems in the US National Security arena

  • CONOPS development for Space Based programs.

  • Understanding of space vehicle design concepts

Basic Qualifications for Level 3:

  • Bachelor’s degree with 5 years of professional experience or Master’s degree with 3 years of professional experience or PhD with 1 year of professional experience.

  • Requires an active Top-Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) clearance at time of application

  • Experience in Space to Ground and Mission Architecture and Space Vehicle Systems Engineering

  • Experience with Satellite Ground Systems in the US National Security arena

  • CONOPS development for Space Based programs.

  • Understanding of space vehicle design concepts

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Knowledge of various mission analysis techniques and software tools.

  • Understanding of Agile software development practices.

  • Experience in astrodynamics or rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO)

  • Background working software systems engineering.

  • On-orbit testing of space systems and testing of integrated ground systems.

Curious about all the exciting developments with the Northrop Grumman Space Sector? Click the link below:

https://www.northropgrumman.com/space

#NoVASpace

#SpaceSysEngJobs

#SpaceEngJobs

#SPEnhancedERAP

Primary Level Salary Range: $91,800.00 - $137,600.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $114,000.00 - $171,000.00

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 11,655 open Systems Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 8, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$92–171K/yr
  • Virginia median$120–182K/yr852 salary ranges
  • US median$116–190K/yr8,674 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $131K, is 13% below the Virginia median midpoint ($152K) — in the middle half of Systems Engineer salary ranges in Virginia.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 1,085 open Systems Engineer jobs in Virginia and 11,655 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Virginia
Experience
This posting asks for no prior experience — less than three in four Systems Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for (median 5 years, across 9,734 postings).
Education
4,448 of the 11,655 open Systems Engineer jobs (38%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 8, 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.

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