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Sr. Principal Cyber Systems / Network Engineer

Northrop Grumman

Fairfax, VAJob$156–235K/yrSeen 3 days agoSeen in employer's feed 3 days ago

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At a glance

Compensation
$156–235K/yr
Location
Fairfax, 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.

TS/SCI clearance

Job overview

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems seeks a Sr. Principal Cyber Systems / Network Engineer to support mission-critical network infrastructure in Chantilly, Virginia. The role provides Tier-2 and Tier-3 support, performs network upgrades, and develops documentation and diagrams. The engineer works with developers, testers, and other technical teams to maintain secure systems and address mission needs. An active TS/SCI with Polygraph is required.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

OSI Model TroubleshootingEthernet CablingFiber InstallationEquipment RackingCisco CLIRisk Management FrameworkAuthority to Operate ProcessIntegrated Team CollaborationDynamic Routing ProtocolsJuniper JunOSFirewall ConceptsNetwork TroubleshootingSystems IntegrationCOTS IntegrationCapacity AnalysisLinuxWindowsRed Hat KVMVMwareLibvirt/VirshDockerKubernetesATO Package DevelopmentAgileOperations and Maintenance

Qualifications

TS/SCI With PolygraphBachelor's+8, Master's+6, PhD+4, or 12 Years

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: 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.

Join Northrop Grumman on our continued mission to push the boundaries of possible across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Enjoy a culture where your voice is valued and start contributing to our team of passionate professionals providing real-life solutions to our world’s biggest challenges. We take pride in creating purposeful work and allowing our employees to grow and achieve their goals every day by Defining Possible. With our competitive pay and comprehensive benefits, we have the right opportunities to fit your life and launch your career today.

At the heart of Defining Possible is our commitment to missions. In rapidly changing global security environments, Northrop Grumman brings informed insights and software-secure technology to enable strategic planning. We’re looking for innovators who can help us keep building on our wide portfolio of secure, affordable, integrated, and multi-domain systems and technologies that fuel those missions. By joining in our shared mission, we’ll support you expanding your personal network and developing skills, whether you are new to the field, or an industry thought leader. At Northrop Grumman, you’ll have the resources, support, and team to do some of the best work of your career.

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is seeking a candidate to join our diverse team of engineers, system administrators, and operators as a Sr. Principal Cyber Systems / Network Engineer professional in Chantilly, VA. The successful candidate will be expected to monitor, maintain, and provide Tier-2 and Tier-3 support of a mission critical network infrastructure, collect data for analysis, perform network upgrades, and be able to produce documentation and diagrams of the work they perform. The work is unique, challenging and rewarding. Most of all, its work that makes a difference.

The successful candidate should thrive in a fast-paced, quick response, work environment with high expectations, diverse assignments, and possess the ability to communicate and collaborate with multiple teams across all technical levels. The candidate must be able to lead the way to maintain and develop creative solutions to complex problems.

Responsibilities:

  • Provide Engineering and Administrative support onsite for a team of developers and testers, often deviating from industry standard procedures to meet mission needs but maintaining system security standards.

  • Develop, implement, and support solutions for systems that support mission critical and mission essential infrastructure.

  • Analyze existing systems & networks and make proactive recommendations to drive change and create efficiencies.

  • Collaborate with mission system developers to create and deploy solutions in support of customer mission needs.

  • Maintain, evaluate, test, and apply STIG configurations for network devices.

  • Respond to security findings and Break Fix events across the infrastructure.

  • Create and maintain network documentation including but not limited to Standard Operating Procedures and VISIO diagrams.

Senior Principal Cyber Systems / Network Engineer Basic Qualifications:

  • Must have an active TS/SCI with Polygraph to be considered.

  • 8 Years with Bachelors Degree; 6 Years with Masters; 4 Year with PhD; 12 years of experience in lieu of a degree.

  • Experience troubleshooting technical issues based on OSI model.

  • Experience making ethernet cables, pulling fiber, racking equipment.

  • Basic understanding of Cisco CLI commands

  • Experience with Risk Management Framework (RMF) and Authority to Operate (ATO) process

  • Experience working in an integrated team environment with other systems, software and specialty engineers to develop solutions.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Understanding of dynamic routing protocols

  • Firm understanding of Juniper JunOS commands and or firewall concepts

  • Previous experience troubleshooting network procedures and best practices; experience with network challenges associated with systems integration, including COTS integration, and capacity analysis.

  • Experience with Linux and Windows operating systems

  • Experience with virtualization technologies (e.g., Red Hat KVM, VMware, libvirt/virsh, Docker, and Kubernetes)

  • Previous experience contributing to building ATO packages

  • Experience working in Agile and O&M environments.

Primary 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: Information Technology

How this job compares

Set against the 3,784 open Network Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted October 27, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$156–235K/yr
  • Virginia median$119–184K/yr297 salary ranges
  • US median$118–198K/yr2,894 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $196K, is 28% above the Virginia median midpoint ($153K) — in the top quarter of Network Engineer salary ranges in Virginia.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 368 open Network Engineer jobs in Virginia and 3,784 across the US. 6% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Virginia
Experience
This posting asks for at least 4 years of experience; Network Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 6 years at the median (3,269 postings).
Education
1,361 of the 3,784 open Network Engineer jobs (36%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on October 27, 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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