Principal / Senior Principal Cyber Systems Engineer at Northrop Grumman
Los Angeles, CA
$125,300–$234,600from the description
Jul 22, 2026
Los Angeles, CA
Jul 23, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A cybersecurity engineering role focused on implementing the Risk Management Framework (RMF) for defense systems, including selecting and assessing security controls, maintaining System Security Plans, and serving as an Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO). The work involves collaborating with Agile engineering teams and ensuring compliance with NIST and DoD standards. Suited to candidates with a background in governance, risk, and compliance within defense or government environments.
Senior level · 5+ years · Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA · Bachelor's required · Secret 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
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $132,481 (middle half $96,915–$170,448). 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: Principal Cyber Systems Engineer (5+ years with a Bachelor's) and Senior Principal Cyber Systems Engineer (8+ years with a Bachelor's). The salary ranges are also split: $125,300–$187,900 for Principal and $156,400–$234,600 for Senior Principal. The combined comp range is reported here. The overall years minimum reflects the lower gate (5 years for the Principal level).
The posting states 'The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret clearance is required' — an active clearance is not required at start (confirmed by 'CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No'), but the role is gated on the ability to obtain one. Clearance is set to Secret accordingly.
Advertised seniority is set to Principal as that is the first and primary level named in the title ('Principal or Senior Principal'). The actual requirements support a Senior band — even the higher tier (8+ years) is well within the Senior range for a specialized defense engineering role without evidence of org-wide technical authority.
The alt SOC (15-1211 Computer Systems Analysts) is noted because the role blends systems engineering practices (RMF implementation, documentation, compliance) with security analysis; however, the primary day-to-day work is cybersecurity compliance and assessment, making 15-1212 the better fit.
The position is contingent on program award, as stated in the posting.
The role is fully onsite in Woodland Hills, CA (part of the Los Angeles metro CBSA).
Ignored 3 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): DoD 8570 IAT Level II, Plan of Actions and Milestones (POAMs), Model-based Engineering.
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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