Cyber Systems Engineer (Principal or Senior Principal Level)
Northrop Grumman · Oklahoma City, OK
$122,800–$184,200from the description
Jul 9, 2026
Oklahoma City, OK
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role centers on System Security Engineering across the full acquisition and development lifecycle for aerospace programs, with a heavy focus on Program Protection, Supply Chain Risk Management, and Counterfeit Parts Prevention. Day-to-day work involves developing protection and risk management plans, conducting supply chain vulnerability assessments, performing criticality analysis, and supporting authorization documentation under RMF and NIST frameworks. It suits an experienced cybersecurity engineer comfortable interfacing with suppliers, internal teams, and government stakeholders.
Senior level · 8+ years · Oklahoma City, OK · Bachelor's required · 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 $84,304 (middle half $76,435–$130,007). 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 (10)
The posting advertises the role as 'Principal or Senior Principal Level' — two distinct internal Northrop Grumman bands. The level advertised in the title is set to Principal (the lower of the two). The actual requirements (8+ years, broad technical ownership, but no org-wide authority described) support a Senior band on the standard career ladder.
The salary range ($122,800–$184,200) is stated as the 'Primary Level' range; the 'Secondary Level' range is listed as $0–$0, suggesting the Senior Principal compensation was not disclosed.
Degree requirement: the JD requires a BS in a STEM field (with 8 years), a Master's (with 6 years), or a PhD (with 4 years). Because a bachelor's is the lowest qualifying path, the degree requirement is set to Bachelors. The STEM field requirement is noted but cannot be captured in the degree field.
Total years minimum is set to 8, reflecting the bachelor's-level path (the most permissive combination). Candidates with advanced degrees may qualify with fewer years.
The DoDD 8140.01 qualifying certification is a hard gate; CompTIA Security+ and CISSP are named examples. 'Or similar network/security certifications' means other qualifying certs are accepted — the alternatives field captures the two named options.
An active Secret clearance (or higher) is required to start; the ability to obtain SAP access is also a hard gate but is not a standard clearance tier and is captured in notes only.
Preferred qualifications include embedded computing, cloud computing, Model-Based Systems Engineering tools (e.g., Cameo), familiarity with several DoDI/NIST policy documents, agile methodologies, Anti-Tamper processes, and the ability to obtain a TS/SSBI — all listed under 'Preferred Qualifications' and treated accordingly.
SOC confidence is Medium: the role is primarily cybersecurity/systems security engineering (15-1212), but the heavy systems engineering lifecycle and supply chain analysis work also has affinity with 15-1211 (Computer Systems Analysts).
Ignored 4 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): System Security Engineering, Program Protection Planning, Supply Chain Risk Management, Criticality 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
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