Principal Engineer Digital / Sr. Principal Engineer Digital

Company: Northrop Grumman
Location: San Diego
Posted on: April 1, 2026

Job Description:

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be 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. Description At Northrop Grumman, we 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 Mission Systems is a trusted provider of mission-enabling solutions for global security. Our organization is chartered with providing the skills, innovative technologies to develop, design, produce and sustain optimized product lines across the sector while providing a decisive advantage to the warfighter. We are looking for you to join our team as a Digital Hardware Design Engineer on site in San Diego, CA. Responsibilities: · Design, develop, integrate and test digital circuit card assemblies for our end-user customers and businesses, primarily focused on software defined radio application · Work with multi-disciplinary teams, such as with Systems Engineering, Digital Engineering, Hardware, and Integration & Test · Analyze system concept of operation, requirements and design documents to resolve functional, performance or timing issues. · Manage the specifications for PCB stack-up, layout and route, and thermal techniques for adherence to guidelines and standards. Basic Qualifications for a Principal Electrical Digital Design Engineer: Bachelor’s degree in electrical or computer engineering, or another STEM degree from an accredited institution and 5 years of engineering experience; OR 3 years of engineering experience with a STEM Master's degree or 1 years of experience with a PhD. Must have active SECRET clearance to start Candidate must have excellent written and communication skills and be able to work independently and within groups. Candidate must have working knowledge of formal engineering development process for digital circuit cards supporting an FPGA System on a Chip. Must have experience using the Electronic Design Automating (EDA) tool Siemens Xpedition. Candidate must be knowledgeable in typical techniques to ensure good PCB signal integrity. Basic Qualifications for a Sr. Principal Electrical Digital Design Engineer: Bachelor’s degree in electrical or computer engineering, or another STEM degree from an accredited institution and 8 years of engineering experience; OR 6 years of engineering experience with a STEM Master's degree OR 4 years of engineering experience with a PhD. Must have active SECRET clearance to start Candidate must have excellent written and communication skills and be able to work independently and within groups. Candidate must have working knowledge of formal engineering development process for digital circuit cards supporting an FPGA System on a Chip. Must have experience using the Electronic Design Automating (EDA) tool Siemens Xpedition. Candidate must be knowledgeable in typical techniques to ensure good PCB signal integrity. Preferred Qualifications for a Principal/Sr. Principal Digital Engineer: 8 or more years of professional technical experience. Design and test experience in Analog/RF and Digital technology. Experience with AMD/Xilinx RF system-on-a-chip (RFSoC) series. Experience with AMD/Xilinx RF Versal. · Experience with Communication Protocols (I2C, SPI, UART, PCIe, Ethernet). Experience with detailed digital analysis at the component level, including component derating, clocking, reset, and sequencing requirements. Selection of components and working with supply chain for order fulfillment. Electronic test set design, development, test and post-delivery support. Worst case performance analysis for critical digital signals. Developing and presenting design reviews for internal customers. Experience with board level debug using test equipment such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers. Experience with translating systems requirements into design documents, and test specifications. Candidate should have experience designing with, and signal integrity analysis of multi-gigabit links. Candidate should have hands-on experience with DoD communications systems. Primary Level Salary Range: $125,300.00 - $187,900.00 Secondary Level Salary Range: $156,400.00 - $234,600.00 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, La Mesa , Principal Engineer Digital / Sr. Principal Engineer Digital, Engineering , San Diego, California