Principal / Sr. Principal Research and Advanced Design Test Engineer

Company: Northrop Grumman
Location: Melbourne
Posted on: April 1, 2026

Job Description:

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret TRAVEL: Yes, 25% 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 Research and Advanced Design Test Engineer (Level 3) / Senior Principal Research and Advanced Design Test Engineer (Level 4) to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals within our Test & Evaluation organization in Melbourne, FL . We are seeking a highly skilled, adaptable, and innovative thinkers who are interested in supporting the application of cutting-edge commercial technologies to operational military use cases. These technologies include advanced RF communications, machine learning, and future wireless technologies in support of advanced battle management capabilities. In this exciting role, your mission will be to support the Battlespace Architecture Systems Technology (BAST) Research and Advanced Design (RAD) portfolio Program Director and technical leadership on all activities across the business area. The BAST portfolio teams are primarily in Melbourne, FL and Space Park, CA, and some travel between locations can be expected. Travel is expected to be 25% or less. Key Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to: Developing comprehensive test plans Creating CONOPs (Concept of Operations) documents Overseeing instrumentation setup and management Providing support for demonstrations and field exercise tests Collection of metrics and result analysis System deployment and configuration Cloud system configuration and testing RF system testing Basic Qualifications: This requisition may be filled at a Principal Research and Advanced Design Test Engineer (Level 3) OR Senior Principal Research and Advanced Design Test Engineer (Level 4) level based on the qualifications below. Principal Research and Advanced Design Test Engineer (Level 3) Must have a Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) discipline and 5 years of related professional/military experience; OR a Master’s Degree in a STEM discipline and 3 years of related professional/military experience; OR a Ph.D. in a STEM discipline and 1 year of related professional/military experience. Must have an active DoD Secret or higher clearance, with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Top Secret Clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) clearance, within a reasonable amount of time as determined by the company to meet its business need. Experience with RF Testing (e.g. developing test plans, test execution, lab testing, customer testing, formal qual, etc.) Ability and willingness to travel up to 25% of the time, based on business requirements. Senior Principal Research and Advanced Design Test Engineer (Level 4) Must have a Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) discipline and 8 years of related professional/military experience; OR a Master’s Degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of related professional/military experience; OR a Ph.D. in a STEM discipline and 4 year of related professional/military experience. Must have an active DoD Secret or higher clearance, with a background investigation completed within the last 6 years or currently enrolled into Continuous Evaluation Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Top Secret Clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) clearance, within a reasonable amount of time as determined by the company to meet its business need. Experience with RF Testing (e.g. developing test plans, test execution, lab testing, customer testing, formal qual, etc.) Ability and willingness to travel up to 25% of the time, based on business requirements. Preferred Qualifications: Demonstrated experience with generating technical documents and working with various software/data processing tools such as MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint, and various programming languages Experience with developing test cases in dynamic efforts Experience with cloud and virtualized environments Experience with RF testing equipment setup Familiarity with cellular networks Master’s Degree in a STEM discipline An active DoD Top Secret Clearance Experience in creating Basis of Estimates (BOEs) Experience with testing systems across different domains (On-prem, Cloud) Experience in device management and configuration Experience with RF deployments Primary Level Salary Range: $98,400.00 - $147,600.00 Secondary Level Salary Range: $122,800.00 - $184,200.00 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.

Keywords: Northrop Grumman, Port St. Lucie , Principal / Sr. Principal Research and Advanced Design Test Engineer, IT / Software / Systems , Melbourne, Florida