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Electrical Systems Engineer

Northrop Grumman

Stafford, VAJob$92–138K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$92–138K/yr
Location
Stafford, VA
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.

Favorable SECNAV 5512, requiredTop Secret clearance, requiredValid Driver's License, required

Job overview

Northrop Grumman seeks an Electrical Systems Engineer for its Whisper program at a government customer site in Stafford, Virginia. The program provides operations and maintenance engineering for antenna platforms and associated RF signal-generation and communications equipment, along with lifecycle systems engineering support. The engineer will analyze equipment problems, evaluate requirements, implement system changes, and support replacement-system development, integration, and testing.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

RF Engineering, requiredRF Technologies, requiredSpectrum Analyzer, requiredOscilloscope, requiredPower Meter, requiredSignal Generator, requiredPulse Generator, requiredMultimeter, requiredFiber Optic Testers, requiredDigital Logic, requiredAnalog Circuitry, requiredMATLAB Coding, requiredMicrosoft Office Suite, requiredAutoCAD, nice to haveSolidWorks, nice to have3D Modeling Software, nice to haveTechnical Briefings, nice to haveTest Method Development, nice to haveRF Test Equipment Operation, nice to haveTechnical Writing, nice to haveLadder Climbing, requiredPersonnel Lift Operation, required

Qualifications

Bachelor's in STEM or Master's in STEM, requiredBachelor's Plus 2 Years or Master's, requiredValid Driver's License, requiredFavorable SECNAV 5512, requiredU.S. Citizenship, requiredTop-Secret SCI CI Poly Eligibility, requiredCurrent TS SCI With CI Poly, nice to have

Benefits

Medical Insurance
401(k) Match
Paid Time Off

Full job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

CLEARANCE TYPE: Polygraph

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 Defense Systems is seeking an Electrical Systems Engineer to work for our Whisper program at a government customer site in Stafford, Virginia.

The Whisper program provides Operations and Maintenance (O&M) engineering and maintenance on large antenna platforms and associated equipment in the generation of RF signals and communications systems. Whisper provides systems engineering support for the lifecycle management of RF signal transmission and receive systems and ensure system-level drawings and documents are accurate and up to date.

Responsibilities:

Analyzing problems with existing equipment

Design and implement corrective actions and modifications,

Evaluate customer requirements,

Determine existing system capability to meet requirements and define, design, develop and implement system changes to meet requirements that are not met by the existing system RF test methods.

Troubleshoot equipment problems, isolating causes and taking proper action to resolve problems, perform corrective maintenance and integrate approved equipment modifications into the existing customer baseline.

Support Integrated Product Teams (IPTs), recapitalization efforts from system requirements, cost and schedule to the development, integration, and testing of replacement systems.

Basic Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree in STEM – [Electrical Engineering or similar] with 2 years of exp or a master's degree STEM with 0 years of exp

  • RF engineering and technologies

  • Experience with test equipment to include - spectrum analyzer, oscilloscope, power meter, signal generator, pulse generator, multi-meter or Digital Voltmeter (DVM), fiber optic testers

  • Digital Logic and analog circuitry knowledge

  • 1 year experience with MATLAB coding

  • Valid driver’s license

  • Ability to support Weekend 12hr shifts about once every 14 weeks

  • Travel up to 10%

  • Obtain a Favorable SECNAV 5512 for visitor base access

  • Ability to climb ladders and use personnel lifts for heights to approximately 50 feet (using approved fall protection equipment), ascend and descend ~60 feet of stairs

  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite

  • United States Citizenship with the ability to obtain/maintain a Top-Secret SCI CI Poly.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or other 3D modeling software knowledge

  • Presenting technical and management level briefings

  • Developing test methods to characterize signals and performance

  • Operating RF test equipment

  • Possess current TS SCI w/CI Poly

  • Technical Writing experience

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

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 11,553 open Systems Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 12, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$92–138K/yr
  • Virginia median$118–182K/yr919 salary ranges
  • US median$115–187K/yr8,722 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $115K, is 24% below the Virginia median midpoint ($151K) — in the lowest quarter of Systems Engineer salary ranges in Virginia.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 1,154 open Systems Engineer jobs in Virginia and 11,553 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Virginia
Experience
This posting asks for at least 2 years of experience — less than three in four Systems Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for (median 5 years, across 9,624 postings).
Education
4,343 of the 11,553 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 12, 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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