Sr Principal Systems Engineer (26-339)
Northrop Grumman · Colorado Springs, CO
$129,300–$203,600from the description
Jul 15, 2026
Colorado Springs, CO
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior systems engineering role focused on early-phase activities — concept development, requirements decomposition, and interface design — for a missile defense command-and-control program. The work involves leading MBSE modeling, producing interface control documents, facilitating technical reviews, and coordinating with government customers. Suited to experienced systems engineers with a Secret clearance, a current DoD 8140/IAT Level II certification, and a background in complex defense or C2 systems.
Senior level · 9+ years · Colorado Springs, CO · Bachelor's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
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
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
What the occupation pays Median $112,511 (middle half $80,144–$140,023). 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 (11)
The role is titled 'Sr Principal Systems Engineer' — Northrop Grumman's internal level code '26-339' maps to a senior-principal band, but the actual scope and experience requirements (9+ years, integrated team environment, component/project ownership) are consistent with a Senior engineer on the broader market ladder, not a true Principal (org-wide technical authority). The level advertised in the title reflects the title; seniority reflects the requirements.
The posting lists two work locations: Colorado Springs, CO and Huntsville, AL. Colorado Springs is reported as the primary CBSA; Huntsville, AL (CBSA 26620) is an equally valid alternative location.
DoD 8140 IAT Level II certification (e.g., Security+ CE, CCNA-Security, CySA+, CND) is explicitly required at time of application and must be maintained throughout the contract — treated as a hard gate.
An active in-scope DoD Secret clearance is required to start — captured in the clearance requirement.
The degree requirement is a Bachelor's in a STEM field; a Master's is preferred but not required. Equivalent experience is NOT offered as a substitute, so Bachelors is the minimum hard gate.
UML behavioral artifacts (use cases, activity diagrams, sequence diagrams) are called out explicitly in the essential functions as required work products; captured as UML.
Cameo is listed under Basic Qualifications as an example MBSE tool ('e.g., Cameo'); because it appears in the required section with a substitution qualifier, it is a hard gate on MBSE tooling — Cameo is the named primary tool.
INCOSE CSEP and OCSMP certifications appear under Preferred Qualifications and are not hard gates.
SOC classification is Medium confidence: Systems Engineering is closest to 15-1299 (Computer Occupations, All Other) given its cross-disciplinary nature; 15-1211 (Computer Systems Analysts) is a reasonable runner-up given the requirements analysis and interface design focus.
Ignored 2 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): Systems Engineering, DoD 8140 IAT Level II.
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.