Modeling and Simulation Systems Engineer - Level 3/4 at Northrop Grumman
Colorado Springs, CO
$103,600–$193,900from the description
Jul 11, 2026
Colorado Springs, CO
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A modeling and simulation engineering role focused on building and developing models using government tools such as AFSIM within a classified environment, supporting programs related to missile defense, space, and intelligence. The work involves simulation engineering across multiple project teams, mentoring junior engineers, and contributing to analysis efforts. Suited to STEM-credentialed engineers with an active Top Secret/SCI clearance and prior hands-on experience with mission-level simulation frameworks.
Senior level · 5+ years · Colorado Springs, CO · Bachelor's required · Top Secret clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
“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.
Why we read it this way (7)
This posting covers two levels simultaneously: Principal Systems Engineer (Level 3, requiring 5+ years with a Bachelor's or 3+ with a Master's) and Sr. Principal Systems Engineer (Level 4, requiring 8+ years with a Bachelor's or 6+ with a Master's). The overall years minimum of 5 reflects the lower-bound Level 3 gate; the salary range spans both levels ($103,600–$193,900).
The clearance requirement is Top Secret with SCI eligibility (TS/SCI), which must be active and in-scope at time of application — this is a hard gate. The clearance requirement field is set to TopSecret; note that SCI eligibility is also explicitly required.
AFSIM and Ansys STK appear together in the basic qualifications as 'like AFSIM, Ansys STK, or a similar modeling and simulation framework' — they are interchangeable options for the same requirement. Both are also listed again under preferred qualifications with more specificity, but the hard gate is on the general M&S tool capability.
Mentoring junior engineers is listed as a basic qualification but names no specific technology or tool, so it is not captured as a skill per extraction rules.
Preferred qualifications include operations research activities (mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, optimization), trade studies, formal verification and validation, and space asset modeling — these name no specific tools and are omitted from the skills list.
The SOC classification is Medium confidence: Modeling & Simulation Systems Engineering is a specialized discipline that sits between systems analysis (15-1211) and broader computer occupations (15-1299); BLS does not have a dedicated M&S SOC code.
Requires a Top 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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