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Principal Engineer Digital/Sr Principal Engineer Digital

Northrop Grumman

Los Angeles, CAFull-time$125–188K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$125–188K/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, required

Job overview

Northrop Grumman seeks a Principal or Senior Principal Digital Engineer for a safety-critical development program in Woodland Hills, California. The engineer will design and verify digital systems and contribute to the company’s enterprise-wide digital transformation using model-based engineering, DevSecOps, and Agile practices. The role interfaces with program leads and engineering and manufacturing organizations throughout the program lifecycle.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

High-Speed Digital Design, requiredDigital Verification, requiredFPGA/SOC/ASIC Implementation, requiredVHDL/Verilog, requiredSynthesis, requiredTiming Closure, requiredHardware Requirements Definition, requiredConceptual Design, requiredDetailed Design, requiredProduction Transitioning, requiredSystem Verilog, nice to haveUVM, nice to haveHardware-in-Loop, nice to haveComputer Architecture, nice to haveBus Standards, nice to haveInterrupts, nice to haveMemory, nice to haveModel-Based Engineering, nice to haveMATLAB, nice to haveSimulink, nice to haveFixed/Floating Point, nice to haveSensors, nice to haveDigital Signal Processing, nice to haveCost Account Management, nice to haveSafety-Critical Design, nice to haveDO-254, nice to haveCommunication, nice to haveTeam Building, nice to haveFacilitation, nice to have

Qualifications

BS+5, MS+3 or PhD+1 Years, requiredBS+8, MS+6 or PhD+4 Years, requiredU.S. Citizenship, requiredActive Secret Clearance, requiredCost Account Management Certification, nice to have

Benefits

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

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 a trusted provider of mission-enabling solutions for global security. Our Engineering and Sciences (E&S) organization pushes the boundaries of innovation, redefines engineering capabilities, and drives advances in various sciences. Our team is chartered with providing the skills, innovative technologies to develop, design, produce and sustain optimized product lines across the sector while providing a decisive advantage to the warfighter. Come be a part of our mission!

We are looking for you to join our team as a Principal Digital Engineer / Sr. Principal Digital Engineer based out of Woodland Hills, CA.

As a Principal Digital Engineer / Sr Principal Digital Engineer at Northrop Grumman you will have a challenging and rewarding opportunity to be a part of our Enterprise-wide digital transformation. Through the use of Model-based Engineering, DevSecOps and Agile practices we continue to evolve how we deliver critical national defense products and capabilities for the warfighter. Our success is grounded in our ability to embrace change, move quickly and continuously drive innovation. The successful candidate will be collaborative, open, transparent, and team-oriented with a focus on team empowerment & shared responsibility, flexibility, continuous learning, and a culture of automation.

What You’ll get to Do:

The Digital Engineer will be responsible for design and verification of digital systems on a safety-critical development program. Candidate is required to have extensive knowledge of digital design and verification concepts. Candidate will possess strong communication skills as he or she will interface with our development program leads, senior scientists, engineering and manufacturing organizations throughout the program lifecycle. The individual will also have technical foresight to integrate the appropriate requirements, processes, procedures and tools as this development program will lead to the future generation of navigation, video & cockpit products.

Basic Qualifications:

Principal Digital Engineer

  • Bachelor's degree in a STEM field with 5 years of relevant experience; Master's degree in a STEM field with 3 years of relevant experience; PhD in a STEM field with 1 year of relevant experience

  • Experience with High-Speed Digital Design and Verification

  • Experience with FPGA/SOC/ASIC implementation (VHDL/Verilog, Synthesis, Timing Closure)

  • Experience with design processes including hardware requirements definition, conceptual design, detailed design, verification, production transitioning

  • U.S. Citizenship is required

  • A current/active U.S. Government Secret Clearance is required

  • Ability to work onsite full-time in Woodland Hills, CA

Sr Principal Digital Engineer

  • Bachelor's degree in a STEM field with 8 years of relevant experience; Master's degree in a STEM field with 6 years of relevant experience; PhD in a STEM field with 4 years of relevant experience

  • Experience with High-Speed Digital Design and Verification

  • Experience with FPGA/SOC/ASIC implementation (VHDL/Verilog, Synthesis, Timing Closure)

  • Experience with design processes including hardware requirements definition, conceptual design, detailed design, verification, production transitioning

  • U.S. Citizenship is required

  • A current/active U.S. Government Secret Clearance is required

  • Ability to work onsite full-time in Woodland Hills, CA

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience with V&V technologies (System Verilog, UVM, Hardware-In-Loop)

  • Knowledge of Computer Architecture (Bus standards, Interrupts, Memory)

  • Experience with Model-based Engineering (MATLAB, Simulink, Fixed Point vs. Floating Point)

  • Experience with Sensors and Digital Signal Processing

  • Cost Account Management (CAM) certification / experience

  • Experience with safety critical designs (DO-254)

  • Communication, team building and facilitation skills

  • Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with team, upper management and customers

Northrop Grumman provides a comprehensive benefits package and a work environment which encourages your growth and supports the mutual success of our people and our company. Northrop Grumman benefits give you the

flexibility and control to choose the benefits that make the most sense for you and your family.

Your benefits will include the following: Health Plan, Savings Plan, Paid Time Off and Additional Benefits including Education Assistance, Training and Development, 9/80 Work Schedule (where available), and much more!

Primary Level Salary Range: $125,300.00 - $187,900.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $156,400.00 - $234,600.00

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 11,651 open Systems Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 11, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$125–188K/yr
  • California median$140–210K/yr1,702 salary ranges
  • US median$115–187K/yr8,796 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $157K, is 10% below the California median midpoint ($174K) — in the middle half of Systems Engineer salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 1,978 open Systems Engineer jobs in California and 11,651 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 1 year of experience — less than three in four Systems Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for (median 5 years, across 9,719 postings).
Education
4,386 of the 11,651 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 11, 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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