Systems Engineer 2/3 at Northrop Grumman
Aurora, CO
$91,800–$213,400from the description
Jul 13, 2026
Aurora, CO
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
An on-site systems engineering role in Aurora, CO focused on integrating, verifying, and validating complex systems. Day-to-day work involves translating customer requirements into hardware and software specifications through functional analysis, trade studies, test plan development, and troubleshooting hardware and software anomalies. Suits cleared STEM engineers with hands-on experience in Linux/Windows environments, Docker-based software installations, and structured testing — with periodic international travel required.
Mid level · 2+ years · Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO · 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 $130,692 (middle half $104,662–$167,678). 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 (7)
This requisition covers two levels: Systems Engineer 2 (Level 2, requiring 2+ years with a bachelor's or 0 years with a master's) and Systems Engineer 3 (Level 3, requiring 5+ years with a bachelor's, 3 years with a master's, or 1 year with a PhD). The salary range spans both levels: $91,800–$137,600 for Level 2 and $142,200–$213,400 for Level 3. Seniority and the overall years minimum are set to the lower (Level 2) gate as the minimum entry point.
An active TS/SCI clearance is a hard gate at time of application — not merely the ability to obtain one.
The role is explicitly onsite in Aurora, CO with no remote or hybrid option. Up to 20% OCONUS travel (7–14 day increments) is required.
Linux and Windows are listed together as a single joint requirement ('experience with Linux and Windows based systems'); they are emitted as separate skills since both are required concurrently, not as alternatives.
Kubernetes appears only under Preferred Qualifications.
The SOC classification is Medium confidence: this is a systems engineering role (integration, verification, test, requirements analysis) that sits between Computer Systems Analysts (15-1211) and a broader systems/aerospace engineering occupation. 15-1211 is the closest computer/mathematical SOC given the software, test, and integration focus.
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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