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2027 Associate Systems Engineer - San Diego CA

Northrop Grumman

San Diego, CAJob$76–114K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$76–114K/yr
Location
San Diego, CA
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 clearanceBachelor's degree

Job overview

Northrop Grumman seeks an Associate Systems Engineer for its Mission Systems Sector in San Diego, joining the Navigation Intelligence & Connectivity Division. The role supports the design and implementation of network and communication systems, from requirements and architecture through integration, verification, and testing. The engineer will work with multidisciplinary teams and interact with users, customers, and developers on advanced mission systems.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

LeadershipTeamworkInterpersonal CommunicationAutonomous WorkProject Lifecycle ManagementPresentation DevelopmentGroup LeadershipCommunication System ModelingNetwork ModelingAgile DevelopmentAtlassian ProductsDigital Communications TheoryWireless NetworkingWaveform ProcessingPhysical Through Application LayersTrade-Off AnalysisModel-Based Systems EngineeringCameoLinux AdministrationWindows AdministrationRisk Management FrameworkNIST SP 800-53CNSSI 1253AD/DNSPatch ManagementPKIHBSSACASVMware ProductsSplunk

Qualifications

Bachelor's DegreeSTEM DegreeU.S. CitizenshipGPA 3.70+Security+ CE or Similar

Full job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

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. We have a wide portfolio of secure, affordable, integrated, and multi-domain systems and technologies. Our differentiated battle management and cyber solutions deliver timely, mission-enabling information and provide superior situational awareness and understanding to protect the U.S. and its global allies.

Entry Level opportunities at Northrop Grumman are unique. Are you interested in boosting your knowledge through experience and exposure, while supporting a mission that seeks to protect our nation and its allies? If so, then Northrop Grumman is the place you!

Our professionals live and breathe different perspectives; we are curious about the world, accepting each other, and aware that the more ideas, backgrounds, opinions and experiences we bring to our work, the stronger that work will be. Just as you would invest your time and hard work into our company, we focus on investing back into you through enriching professional experiences and high-quality learning and development opportunities. We want you to bring your whole self to work, and for you to have meaningful connections with your coworkers, customers and communities, while providing the best products, systems and technologies to protect our world.

Northrop Grumman is seeking Associate Systems Engineers This position will be located at our Mission Systems Sector in San Diego, CA

The qualified candidate will become part of Northrop The qualified candidate will become part of Northrop Grumman’s Navigation Intelligence & Connectivity Division. At the Northrop Grumman San Diego campus our Communication/Network Solutions Business Units create the next generation of communications and signal processing systems. We take ideas from concept to working systems aboard the world’s most advanced platforms right here in always-sunny San Diego. We design in our campus of labs and on-site advanced manufacturing just minutes from the beach and everything for which Southern California is famous. It’s work that matters and a career that can takes you places. The selected candidate will work in a dynamic people-focused environment where he/she will interact with users, customers and other developers.

Roles and Responsibilities

  • Working within a multi-discipline (Hardware, Software, Cyber, Systems) team to ensure the complete, overall design and implementation of cutting-edge network and communication systems

  • Taking responsibility for a sub-system or feature that may include algorithm development, digital modeling, or hands-on integration and test in a laboratory environment

  • Supporting technical planning, system integration, verification and validation, cost and risk, and supportability and effectiveness analyses for total systems. Analyses may be performed at all levels of total system product to include: concept, design, fabrication, test, installation, operation, maintenance and disposal. Ensuring the logical and systematic conversion of customer or product requirements into total systems solutions that acknowledge technical, schedule, and cost constraints. Performing functional analysis, timeline analysis, detailed trade studies, requirements allocation and interface definition studies to translate customer requirements into hardware and software specifications.

  • Applying your Systems, RF, Comms, and/or Network Modeling experience to cutting edge pursuits

  • Participating in architecture definition and complex system problem solving in support of advanced software defined multifunction mission systems

  • Creating innovative concepts of operation and employment of the advanced mission system solutions

  • Development of detailed design requirements suitable for efficient hardware/software/firmware implementation and network deployment

  • Having a strong work ethic and the ability to work in an integrated product team (IPT) environment

Basic Qualifications:

A candidate must meet ALL of the below criteria. The candidate must:

  • Be completing or has completed their Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution

  • Be majoring in or having majored in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) degree

  • Be able to obtain a U.S. Government security clearance (U.S. citizenship is a pre-requisite)

  • The ability to obtain Special Access Program clearance within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company to meet its business needs

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Have an overall cumulative GPA of 3.70/4.0 or higher

  • Previous internship/co-op or other work experience, leadership & teamwork capabilities, interpersonal communication skills, and activities (professional/community/extracurricular)

  • Experience in working in an autonomous work environment on complex projects.

  • Experience in working on business or engineering full life-cycle projects from project inception through launch.

  • Experience in developing and delivering presentations and leading small groups

  • Experience with emerging technologies

  • High proficiency with tools required for communication system and network modeling and simulation

  • Agile development experience, including use of Atlassian products

  • Background in digital communications theory and commercial and military wireless networking technologies

  • Development of communication waveform processing techniques and architectures in support of Northrop Grumman’s advanced software defined multifunction mission systems

  • Demonstrated depth and breadth in the physical through application layers and how the aggregation of these partitioned capabilities accomplish required missions

  • Demonstrated skills in bridging the gap between theoretical and practical and in performing associated trade off analysis

  • Model Based System Engineering experience, especially using Cameo

  • Experience with Linux & Windows system administration

  • Experience with the Risk Management Framework (NIST SP 800-53) and/or Committee for National Security Systems

  • Instruction (CNSSI 1253)

  • Current DoD 8570/8140 IA Certification (Security+CE or similar) OR must have the ability to obtain, and maintain, the certification within 6 months of start date

  • Knowledge and/or experience in one or more of the following technologies: AD/DNS, Patch Management, PKI, HBSS, ACAS, VMware products, Splunk

Salary Level: $76,200 – 114,400

campusjobs

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 11,576 open Systems Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 4, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$76–114K/yr
  • California median$142–210K/yr1,765 salary ranges
  • US median$116–190K/yr8,504 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $95K, is 46% below the California median midpoint ($175K) — in the lowest quarter of Systems Engineer salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 2,078 open Systems Engineer jobs in California and 11,576 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in California
Experience
Systems Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 3 to 8 years (9,652 postings).
Education
This posting asks for a bachelor's degree; 4,541 of the 11,576 open Systems Engineer jobs (39%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 4, 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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