Principal Operations Systems Engineer – Level 3 at Northrop Grumman
Aurora, CO
$114,000–$171,000from the description
Jul 22, 2026
Aurora, CO
Jul 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This fully on-site role involves operating and maintaining a mission-critical, around-the-clock system at a field site, including troubleshooting live issues, developing standard operating procedures, writing automation scripts, and trending operational data. After a 20-week training program, the engineer works rotating 12-hour shifts (days and nights, including weekends and holidays). A STEM background with several years of systems engineering or operations experience is expected, along with the ability to obtain a Top Secret/SCI clearance and pass a polygraph.
Senior level · 5+ years · Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO · Bachelor's required · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $164,050 (middle half $109,925–$164,050). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The role is titled 'Principal Operations Systems Engineer – Level 3' but the actual requirements (5 years with a STEM bachelor's, or 3 with a master's) and scope align more with a Senior-level position on a standard career ladder. Northrop Grumman's internal 'Level 3' designation maps to their Principal band, but the work scope and experience gates are consistent with Senior.
The clearance requirement is TS/SCI plus a Counterintelligence Polygraph, which maps to TopSecretSci.
The degree requirement is a STEM bachelor's (or higher); equivalent experience is NOT accepted as a substitute — a STEM degree is explicitly required.
The role is 100% onsite in Aurora, CO with rotating 12-hour shifts (days and nights, including weekends and holidays); no remote or telecommute accommodation.
Linux is listed under Basic Qualifications as a hard gate. Scripting/automation is described in the responsibilities narrative ('developing scripts and products to automate the operations of complex systems') but no specific scripting language is named, so it is captured as preferred.
SOC classification is uncertain: the role is an operational systems engineer running a 24x7 mission-critical system, which blends systems operations (15-1244) with broader systems engineering work not cleanly covered by standard SOC codes. 15-1299 (Computer Occupations, All Other) is used as the best fit, with 15-1244 as the runner-up.
The position is contingent on the candidate obtaining final clearances and program accesses within a reasonable period of time.
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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