Systems Engineer - Level 2 or 3
Northrop Grumman · Aurora, CO
$91,800–$137,600from the description
Jul 22, 2026
Aurora, CO
Jul 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A systems engineering role supporting space systems programs, focused on requirements development and decomposition, system integration, verification and validation, and trade studies. Day-to-day work involves translating program requirements into hardware and software specifications using tools such as Jira, Confluence, Cameo, and DOORS within an Agile environment. The position is onsite in Aurora, CO and requires an active TS/SCI clearance.
Mid level · 2+ years · Boulder, CO · Bachelor's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 3 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
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
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
What the occupation pays Median $135,669 (middle half $104,979–$172,767). 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)
This posting covers two levels simultaneously: Systems Engineer Level 2 (2+ years, primary salary $91,800–$137,600/year) and Principal Systems Engineer Level 3 (5+ years, secondary salary $114,000–$171,000/year). The extracted minimum experience (2 years) and compensation range reflect the lower Level 2 gate; the Level 3 range is $114,000–$171,000/year.
DOORS and CAMEO appear in the Basic Qualifications block joined by 'and/or', indicating they are interchangeable alternatives for satisfying the requirements-management/modeling tool requirement. Both are listed as required skills with each other as alternatives.
JIRA and Confluence appear together in the Basic Qualifications block under 'Atlassian tool suite (JIRA/Confluence)' — treated as a single required capability. They also appear separately under Preferred Qualifications, where they are framed as preferred experience. The required listing governs.
OPIR data familiarity and experience with specialized combat systems appear only under Preferred Qualifications.
The role is on-site in Boulder, CO; no remote work is offered.
An active in-scope Secret clearance is explicitly required at time of application — not merely the ability to obtain one.
The advertised seniority reflects the Level 2 framing in the title ('Systems Engineer – Level 2 or 3'); actual requirements support a Mid-level band for the lower gate.
Requires a Secret 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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