Space Systems/ Principal Systems Engineer at Northrop Grumman
Fairfax, VA
$87,600–$171,000from the description
Jul 22, 2026
Fairfax, VA
Jul 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A systems engineering role focused on defining and managing requirements, interfaces, and architecture for a multi-variant product line. Day-to-day work involves maintaining traceability matrices, authoring interface control documents, producing system models and diagrams, and collaborating with cross-functional Agile teams through integration and verification. Suited to engineers with a STEM background and an active TS/SCI clearance who have hands-on experience with requirements engineering and hardware-software interface definition.
Mid level · 2+ years · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV · Bachelor's required · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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 $129,834 (middle half $101,882–$164,857). 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 requisition is posted as a dual-level opening: Level 2 (Systems Engineer, 2+ years with a Bachelor's or 0 years with a Master's) and Level 3 (Principal Systems Engineer, 5+ years with a Bachelor's, 3 years with a Master's, or 0 years with a PhD). The salary range spans both levels ($87,600–$137,600 for Level 2; $108,800–$171,000 for Level 3). Seniority and the overall years minimum are set to the lower (Level 2) gate as the minimum entry point.
Active TS/SCI clearance is explicitly required at time of application — this is a hard gate.
Locations listed are Fairfax, VA and Linthicum, MD; the DC metro CBSA covers both. Linthicum, MD falls within the Baltimore CBSA, but Fairfax, VA is the primary listed location so the DC metro is used.
SOC classification is Medium confidence: the role is titled 'Systems Engineer' and centers on requirements engineering, traceability, ICD definition, and integration/verification — work that maps most closely to Computer Systems Analysts (15-1211). An argument could be made for 15-1299 (Computer Occupations, All Other) given the systems-engineering framing.
Jira and Confluence are listed together as examples of 'collaborative development tools'; Confluence is captured as an alternative to Jira rather than a separate skill since they appear as a paired example.
Programming languages (C/C++, Python, Rust) appear under Preferred Qualifications for embedded development context and are marked preferred accordingly.
Safety/compliance standards (IEC 61508, ISO 26262, FDA 21 CFR 820) are listed under Preferred Qualifications and are marked preferred; the alternatives field captures the interchangeable standards listed.
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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