Principal Cyber Systems Security Engineer at Northrop Grumman
Baltimore, MD
$119,600–$179,400from the description
Jul 1, 2026
Baltimore, MD
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A systems security engineering role focused on developing cybersecurity solutions for defense sensor payloads and mission systems. Day-to-day work spans compliance with government security frameworks, Assessment and Authorization documentation, Security Test and Evaluation, anti-tamper measures, and reverse engineering. Suited to cleared engineers with DoD platform experience across areas such as embedded software, cryptography, RF, or radar systems.
Senior level · 5+ years · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD · 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 2 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
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $141,208 (middle half $106,798–$194,505). 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 (9)
The title 'Principal Cyber Systems Security Engineer' uses 'Principal' as a Northrop Grumman job-grade label rather than the org-wide technical authority the seniority band implies; the actual requirements (5 years minimum, Secret clearance, hands-on ST&E and A&A work) support a Senior-level role.
Degree requirement is effectively None: the JD explicitly accepts 4 additional years of experience in lieu of any degree, making the Bachelor's/Master's/PhD options non-binding gates.
The role blends systems security engineering (DoD platform/sensor integration, A&A, ST&E) with information security analysis; 15-1212 was chosen as the primary SOC given the dominant cybersecurity compliance and assessment duties, with 15-1299 as the runner-up given the specialized DoD systems engineering flavor.
Secret clearance is the hard gate for start; the ability to obtain Special Access Program (SAP) access is also required but is not a named clearance level.
Active Top Secret clearance is listed under Preferred Qualifications — it is a nice-to-have, not a gate.
JSIG and DAAPM are listed together as a single policy-compliance requirement; they are captured as a single skill with DAAPM as an alternative since both are DoD cybersecurity governance frameworks used interchangeably in this context.
The position is contingent on contract award, which may affect actual hiring timeline.
Ignored 3 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): Reverse Engineering, Security Test and Evaluation, Software Attack Surface Analysis.
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
The employer publishes the full description on their own site — read it there ↗. Or sign in to read it here — it's free, and it also lets you track this application.