Principal Electrical Engineer
San Diego, CAJob$120–160K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today
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At a glance
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Requirements
Credentials this posting asks for.
Job overview
SAIC seeks a Principal Electrical Engineer to support Department of Defense communications systems at a Navy facility in San Diego. The role leads troubleshooting, repair, installation, and sustainment of communications hardware down to the board level. It is onsite, requires the candidate to be local to the area, and involves up to 25% travel.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
Description
SAIC is seeking a Principal Electrical Engineer to support critical Department of Defense (DoD) communications systems at a Navy facility in San Diego, California . In this role, you will be a lead to troubleshooting, repair, install, and sustain communications hardware down to the board level. This role is ideal for a hands-on engineer with strong diagnostic skills, a deep understanding of system and board-level diagrams, and field experience.
THIS IS AN ONSITE ROLE IN SAN DIEGO, CA. MUST BE LOCAL TO AREA. UP TO 25% TRAVEL INVOLVED.
JOB DUTIES:
Troubleshooting & Repair:
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Troubleshoot, isolate faults, and repair communications hardware to the board and component level.
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Read and interpret system-level and board-level schematics, wiring diagrams, and technical manuals.
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Conduct functional tests on equipment and evaluate results to ensure system integrity and compliance with standards.
Installation & Field Engineering:
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Plan and perform installation, configuration, integration, and testing of new and upgraded systems.
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Provide field engineering support at government sites as needed.
Documentation & Reporting:
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Develop and update design diagrams, engineering specifications, and build procedures.
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Prepare high-quality reports summarizing findings, progress, and recommendations for stakeholders.
Qualifications
REQUIREMENTS:
Education and Experience:
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Bachelors in Electrical Engineering or a related technical discipline and nine (9) years or more experience; Masters and seven (7) years or more experience ; PhD or JD and four (4) years or more experience.
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Demonstrated experience troubleshooting and repairing hardware to the board level, including soldering and rework and use of oscilloscopes, multimeters, and similar test equipment.
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Experience reading and analyzing system and board-level diagrams and technical documents.
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Hands-on experience in hardware testing, evaluation, and integration.
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Experience performing system installations.
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Prior supervisory experience leading or supervising technical staff.
Clearance:
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Must be a U.S. Citizen
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Must have an Active Secret Clearance to start
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Must be able to obtain a Top Secret Clearance after start
DESIRED SKILLS:
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Experience with NIWC Pacific or other Navy-related programs.
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Familiarity with DoD and Strategic communication systems and standards.
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IPC-A-610 or J-STD-001 certification.
Target salary range: $120,001 - $160,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.
REQNUMBER: 2618878
SAIC is a premier technology integrator, solving our nation's most complex modernization and systems engineering challenges across the defense, space, federal civilian, and intelligence markets. Our robust portfolio of offerings includes high-end solutions in systems engineering and integration; enterprise IT, including cloud services; cyber; software; advanced analytics and simulation; and training. We are a team of 23,000 strong driven by mission, united purpose, and inspired by opportunity. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $6.5 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For information on the benefits SAIC offers, see Working at SAIC. EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability
How this job compares
Set against the 3,087 open Electrical Engineering jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 11, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$120–160K/yr
- California median$138–207K/yr216 salary ranges
- US median$126–201K/yr1,953 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $140K, is 20% below the California median midpoint ($174K) — in the lowest quarter of Electrical Engineering salary ranges in California.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 333 open Electrical Engineering jobs in California and 3,087 across the US. 3% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 4 years of experience — less than three in four Electrical Engineering postings that state a minimum ask for (median 6 years, across 2,230 postings).
- Education
- 1,575 of the 3,087 open Electrical Engineering jobs (51%) 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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