Principal or Senior Principal Engineer Guidance Navigation Control
- Salary
- $114K–$171KUSD
- Moves you to
- United States
- Support
- Relocation support
- Posted
- Sep 28, 2026
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 Aeronautics Systems Autonomous Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance and Targeting (AISR&T) business area seeks a Principal Engineer or Senior Principal Engineer Guidance Navigation Control to support the Guidance & Control (G&C) team in Rancho Bernardo, CA.
Candidate will perform various G&C tasks for the RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-4 Triton Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) Program. These activities include non-linear 6DOF Simulation analysis (including stress testing, trade studies, mission analysis, etc), linear MATLAB analysis (gain/phase margin determination, gain/filter determination, etc), embedded flight control software design/code/test, and supporting flight testing (pre-flight predictions, real-time support, post flight analysis, parameter identification, etc). The candidate will keep abreast of or develop new or improved G&C methods or processes in order to maintain current state-of-the-art tools for the department. He/she may be called upon to support proposal preparation efforts and new project activities, including technical, cost, and schedule.
This position can be filled at either the Principal Engineer or Senior Principal Engineer level.
Basic Qualifications:
- Basic qualifications for a Principal Engineer Guidance Navigation Control include a Bachelor's in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) and at least 5 years of experience, a Master's Degree in STEM with 3 years of experience, or a PhD Degree with no experience.
- Basic qualifications for a Senior Principal Engineer Guidance Navigation Control include a Bachelor's in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) and at least 8 years of experience, a Master's Degree in STEM with 6 years of experience, or a PhD Degree with 3 years of experience.
- Proficient in Matlab and Simulink
- Knowledge of C/C++ and Python
- Knowledge of flight sciences, control law development, or control system analysis.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a US Government Secret Clearance (with a background investigation within the past 6 years or enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance, within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Excellent communication, analysis and problem-solving skills
- Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team environment
- Clearance Level: Secret (S) or ability to obtain a Secret
- Proficient in C/C++
- UAVs: Some experience
- Flight Test: Some experience