
Principal / Sr. Principal I&T Systems Engineer - Flight Test
Baltimore, MDJob$109–204K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today
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Job overview
Northrop Grumman seeks a Principal or Sr. Principal Systems Integration and Test Engineer for flight-test activities in Baltimore. The engineer will plan, coordinate, and execute testing of complex systems, support airworthiness planning and verification, and work with multidisciplinary teams across the product life cycle. The role requires onsite work and domestic travel of up to 50%; an active DoD Secret clearance and U.S. citizenship are required.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Benefits
Full job description
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes
CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret
TRAVEL: Yes, 50% 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.
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.
The Engineering and Sciences organization (E&S) 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!
Northrop Grumman Mission Systems' Baltimore and Partnered Sites (BaPs) division is seeking a Systems Integration & Test (SI&T) Engineer (Level 3 or Level 4) – Flight Test in Baltimore, MD to support test and verification activities within the Emerging Capabilities Division. What you’ll get to do: As the lead developer of radars, COMMS, and SIGINT for some of the most advanced systems in the U.S. arsenal, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is a world leader in advanced sensor systems and design. These include airborne RADARs for fighter jets & UAVs including F-22, F-35, F-16, Global Hawk (Triton), and Gray Eagle (STARLite), airborne surveillance RADARs for AWACS and E-7 (MESA), and ground and maritime RADARs including G/ATOR and SEWIP. Qualified Systems Integration, Test & Evaluation (SITE) engineers will perform hands-on integration and testing of sophisticated systems, including both hardware and software components in development and production environments; Synthesize internal and external customer needs and requirements into system tests that acknowledge technical and schedule constraints; Participate in the development and execution of comprehensive test plans, procedures, and schedules for verifying system requirements; participate in I&T readiness reviews, design reviews and conducts audits of I&T program facilities; Coordinate integrated testing activities that may include environmental, reliability and flight test; Review and evaluate test requirements to ensure completeness of test program; Perform analysis of test results and prepares comprehensive reports; Use modeling and simulation tools to expedite testing of individual units before all system components are available and for troubleshooting and repair of failed units.
Key responsibilities
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Serve as a Flight Test Engineer within the flight test team. Responsibilities of this team include planning, coordinating, and executing safe and effective flights, generating test cards, and executing testing at customer sites in accordance with governing documentation (MIL-HDBK-516C and NAVAIR Instruction 13034.1F / G) and programmatic goals.
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Participate in a multi-disciplinary team through all stages of the product life cycle, including design, fabrication, test planning, installation, test execution, operation, and maintenance.
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Review functional analysis, timeline analysis, detailed trade studies, requirements allocation, interface definitions, and hardware and software specifications for airworthiness compliance to the appropriate regulations, standards, and/or guidelines.
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Participate in technical airworthiness planning and verification support, including development and negotiation of airworthiness plans, basis of certifications, means of compliance, and certification activities for complex total systems with IPT/REs as well as customer counterparts.
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Occasionally (up to 50% of the time) operate out of customer locations (typically military test centers; domestically only, no overseas travel anticipated).
This requisition may be filled at a higher grade based on qualifications listed below .
This requisition may be filled at either a Principal Level or a Sr. Principal Level.
Basic Qualifications for a Principal Systems Engineer – Integration & Test
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Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline from an accredited university with 5+ years of relevant experience with; 3+ years with a Master’s; 1+ year with a PhD. 4 years of additional relevant experience may be considered in lieu of degree on a case-by-case basis.
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Test and operations experience with UAS or manned aircraft operations.
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Experience troubleshooting and resolving issues on test aircraft in both field and lab environments.
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Demonstrated experience in system integration and test on complex HW/SW systems.
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Strong communication skills; ability to interface across multiple teams.
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Ability to travel domestically up to 50% of the time.
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Active DoD Secret clearance
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Candidate must be a US citizen
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Ability to work onsite in Baltimore, MD.
Basic Qualifications for a Sr. Principal Systems Engineer – Integration & Test
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Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline from an accredited university with 8+ years of relevant experience with; 6+ years with a Master’s; 4+ year with a PhD. 4 years of additional relevant experience may be considered in lieu of degree on a case-by-case basis.
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Test and operations experience with UAS or manned aircraft operations.
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Experience troubleshooting and resolving issues on test aircraft in both field and lab environments.
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Demonstrated experience in system integration and test on complex HW/SW systems.
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Strong communication skills; ability to interface across multiple teams.
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Ability to travel domestically up to 50% of the time.
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Active DoD Secret clearance
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Candidate must be a US citizen
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Ability to work onsite in Baltimore, MD.
Preferred Qualifications
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Significant experience integrating hardware, software, and third-party components to include test planning, execution, and analysis.
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Collaboration with diverse technical and domain teams to capture test objectives and requirements.
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Air Vehicle or Flight Science testing background (i.e – GNC/Propulsion/Loads FTE)
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NAVAIR Airworthiness and Cybersafe Office (formerly 4.0P) Airworthiness Experience.
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Experience with Vehicle Management Systems (VMS) and / or Vehicle Control Functions (VCF).
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Military aircraft development or modification experience, particularly with US Navy and Marine Corps platforms.
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Experience working with CAT2 or CAT1 UAS systems through operations or test.
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Design and Systems Engineering experience in one or more of the following areas: Flight Technology, Avionics, Mission Payload Integration, Flight Test.
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Experience with MIL-HDBK-516C and MIL-STD-882E.
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Familiarity with NAVAIR Instruction 13034.1F / .1G.
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Familiarity with System Safety Risk Assessments (SSRA), program risks and hazard analyses.
This position is contingent upon transfer of active DoD Secret Clearance.
Primary Level Salary Range: $108,800.00 - $163,200.00
Secondary Level Salary Range: $135,800.00 - $203,600.00
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 10,954 open Systems Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 15, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$109–204K/yr
- Maryland median$120–198K/yr577 salary ranges
- US median$115–187K/yr8,483 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $156K, is close to the Maryland median midpoint ($159K) — in the middle half of Systems Engineer salary ranges in Maryland.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 701 open Systems Engineer jobs in Maryland and 10,954 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most in Maryland
- Northrop Grumman (this employer)66 open
- Peraton59 open
- Leidos56 open
- 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 9,183 postings).
- Education
- 4,122 of the 10,954 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 15, 2026. Figures based on too few postings are left out.
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