Northrop Grumman
Principal / Sr. Principal Computer Hardware Engineer
- Location
- Redondo Beach, CA
- Work type
- On-site
- Job type
- Full-time
- Salary
- $114K – $171K / yr
- Clearance
- Secret
- U.S. citizenship
- Not stated
- Posted
- Aug 13, 2026
About the role
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No
CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret
TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time
Secondary Level Salary Range: $142,200.00 - $213,400.00
The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.
Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.
The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.
Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No
CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret
TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time
Description
At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal / Sr. Principal Computer Hardware Engineer to join the F-35 Mission Systems team. This position is located onsite in Redondo Beach, CA.
The selected candidate will be responsible for designing, building, and maintaining computer system hardware racks and workstations that are used by the F-35 software developers to accomplish their software development and delivery tasks.
Key Responsibilities:
- Build rack mounted and workstation HPE systems using available frames and motherboards, CPUs, memory, and disks.
- Design, construct, and maintain computer racks consisting of HPE systems, switches and firewalls, tape libraries, and other needed peripherals in a professional manner for both classified and unclassified environments.
- Design and implement safe networking strategies between the enterprise network and our F35 project network, and among the various developer workstations.
- Load and configure all rack-mounted systems and peripherals and developer workstations per project requirements.
- Produce professional drawings of the F35 developer network.
- Investigate, install, and maintain other software products as required.
We offer flexible work arrangements, 9/80 work schedule, phenomenal learning opportunities, and a very friendly team environment
This requisition may be filled at either a Principal Computer Hardware Engineer level 3 or a Sr. Principal Computer Hardware Engineer level 4
Basic Qualifications for a Principal Computer Hardware Engineer (level 3):
- Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 5 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 3 years of related engineering experience; OR a PhD in a STEM discipline and 1 years of related engineering experience.
- Prior professional experience constructing and maintaining computer hardware racks and workstations for unclassified and classified environments.
- Prior professional experience with software loading and administration of racked systems.
- Demonstrated ability to investigate and solve configuration issues related to the use of various software tools.
- Prior professional experience with the installation and configuration of network switches and firewalls.
- Working familiarity with Linux system administration.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a US Government clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
Basic Qualifications for a Sr. Principal Computer Hardware Engineer (level 4):
- Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 8 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of related engineering experience; OR a PhD in a STEM discipline and 4 years of related engineering experience.
- Prior professional experience constructing and maintaining computer hardware racks and workstations for unclassified and classified environments.
- Prior professional experience with software loading and administration of racked systems.
- Demonstrated ability to investigate and solve configuration issues related to the use of various software tools.
- Prior professional experience with the installation and configuration of network switches and firewalls.
- Working familiarity with Linux system administration.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a US Government clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
Preferred Qualifications for both a Principal and Sr. Principal Computer Hardware Engineer:
- Familiarity with configuration and administration of SUSE Linux, LDAP, and Samba.
- Familiarity with Lynx OS real-time software.
- Familiarity with LDRA and Coverity security scanning tools.
- Experience setting up FlexLM license manager servers.
- Experience selecting needed hardware and software from vendors and working with a purchasing department to acquire the identified products.
Secondary Level Salary Range: $142,200.00 - $213,400.00
The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.
Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.
The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.
Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.