Principal / Senior Principal CORE Systems Engineer at Northrop Grumman
Baltimore, MD
$108,800–$203,600from the description
Jul 13, 2026
Baltimore, MD
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A systems engineering role focused on defense and aerospace programs — including electronic warfare and unmanned platforms — where the core work involves translating customer requirements into fielded systems. Day-to-day responsibilities cover requirements management, functional decomposition, interface documentation, and supporting formal design reviews. The position suits engineers with a background in defense systems engineering who hold an active Secret clearance and can obtain Special Program Access.
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.
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.
What the occupation pays Median $138,582 (middle half $107,217–$160,197). 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 CORE Systems Engineer (5+ years with a Bachelor's) and Senior Principal CORE Systems Engineer (8+ years with a Bachelor's). The salary ranges are stacked: $108,800–$163,200 for Principal and $135,800–$203,600 for Senior Principal. The overall years minimum is set to the lower gate (5 years); the upper level effectively requires 8 years.
The role is 100% on-site at the Baltimore, MD location — remote is not available.
A current/active U.S. Government Secret clearance is a hard gate for start. The posting also requires the ability to obtain Special Program Access (SAP); an active Top Secret or SCI eligibility is listed only under Preferred Qualifications.
The degree requirement is effectively None because the JD explicitly accepts 'an additional 4 years of experience in lieu of a degree' at both levels.
DOORS, CAMEO, and MATLAB are listed together as interchangeable examples of 'systems engineering tools such as…' under the required qualifications, so they are captured as a single required skill with alternatives.
MBSE and Agile experience appear only under Preferred Qualifications.
The advertised title is 'Principal / Senior Principal,' which maps to the Principal advertised seniority band; however, the actual scope and minimum experience (5 years, component/program-level systems engineering) is consistent with a Senior individual-contributor role on a normal career ladder.
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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