Sr. Principal System Engineer - USAF IFC Manager

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes
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 Senior Principal Systems Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Systems Engineering organization, located in Rancho Bernardo, CA. In this role, you will perform as an Integrated Functional Capability (IFC) Lead for the USAF Business Area and will be responsible for leading a diverse engineering team to provide imaginative, technical solutions to a wide range of difficult problems.

This role is responsible for defining, controlling, and certifying system interfaces; ensuring that interface baselines are technically sound, well documented, and fully integrated to drive IFC strategy supporting new capability insertion. The IFC Lead partners closely with Systems Engineering, Software, Hardware, Integration & Test, Safety, and Cyber to reduce integration risk and enable predictable, high-quality program execution. You will be working across the entire spectrum of the Systems Engineering V-Model, and will support SE disciplines including requirements development, use case development, capability (hardware and software) development, integration planning, lab integration, test planning, formal test, and verification.

Essential Functions

• Serve as the technical authority for IFC on the program, owning the interface baseline across allocated subsystems and external stakeholders.
• Define and execute the IFC certification process for software and hardware builds, including planning, verification, and formal approval.
• Lead and/or chair IFC-related meetings (e.g., IFC Daily Execution, IFC Certification Reviews).
• Evaluate Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs), change requests, and new capability insertions for IFC impacts; provide clear recommendations to program leadership and configuration control boards.
• Develop a strategic IFC roadmap for the program/mission area, aligning interface evolution with planned capability increments.
• Lead root-cause investigations for IFC-related anomalies in lab and field environments; drive corrective actions and verification of fixes.
• Prepare and deliver IFC certification packages, including technical rationale, test evidence, risks/limitations, and formal recommendations.
• Identify IFC-related technical risks and opportunities; maintain and communicate mitigation plans.
• Provide technical mentoring to junior and mid-level systems engineers in IFC Management, integration, and interface analysis.
• Influence program strategy and planning by providing IFC insights into staffing, schedule, and technical risk.
• Work closely with Program Management, Chief Engineers, SE IPT leads, Software, Hardware, and Operations to ensure IFC work is integrated with broader program objectives.
• Represent IFC topics in program reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, demos) and customer meetings, providing clear, concise technical status and recommendations.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline (e.g., Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering) with typically 9+ years of related experience; or a Master’s degree with 7+ years; or PhD with 4+ years.
• Demonstrated experience in Systems Engineering with a focus on interface control, integration
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to quickly understand complex system interactions and define valid solution sets.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to create clear technical documentation and present to technical and program leadership.
• Must have an active US Government Secret or higher clearance (with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience as an IFC Lead, Integration Lead, or senior SE on complex aerospace/defense systems.
• Experience with IFC certification processes, accelerated release paths (e.g., AIR), and configuration control boards.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop engineers and influence cross-functional teams without direct authority.

Primary Level Salary Range: $0.00 - $0.00
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.