US CITIZENSHIP REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION: Yes

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 25% of the Time

**Description**

Join Northrop Grumman on our continued mission to push the boundaries of possible across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Enjoy a culture where your voice is valued and start contributing to our team of passionate professionals providing real-life solutions to our worlds biggest challenges. We take pride in creating purposeful work and allowing our employees to grow and achieve their goals every day by Defining Possible. With our competitive pay and comprehensive benefits, we have the right opportunities to fit your life and launch your career today.

Northrop Grumman Space Systems Payload and Ground Systems has an exciting career opportunity for a **Principal RF Hardware Engineer / Sr. Principal RF Hardware Engineer** to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position will be located in **Boulder, CO** .

**Overview:**

As a Principal / Sr. Principal Hardware Engineer you will be developing and sustaining systems using current technologies and others yet to come. We are seeking individuals who have a thirst for knowledge, approach each day with optimism, and have a relentless drive to solve complex problems. Creativity and innovation are imperative for this role, because at Northrop Grumman, many of the problems we work on are impossible until theyre not.

The selected **Principal / Sr. Principal RF Hardware Engineer** will work the Payload and Ground Systems (PGS) S2E2 program.

**Essential Functions:**

The selected candidate will join a team of dedicated engineers, supporting a critical national defense mission. The responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, the following:

+ Supports the design, development, and analysis of Ground Station requirements.
+ Implements Hardware (HW), and Radio Frequency (RF) systems in support of Ground Based Systems architecture and support communications infrastructure.
+ Conducts technical analysis of product implementations, modifications, and enhancements to product in accordance with specific customer specifications and implementations.
+ Tests and understands a variety of electronic equipment and systems, including satellite modems; Front-end processors; general communications equipment and systems; circuitry components; analog and digital computers; and control and test equipment.
+ Evaluates and resolves engineering related production problems related to manufacturing, design, quality, and material engineering.
+ Analyzes engineering specifications and drawings; confers with quality, material, manufacturing, and subcontractors to provide and obtain technical information; investigates reports of defective, damaged, or malfunctioning parts, assemblies, equipment, or systems; and reviews production schedules and orders.
+ Examines, measures, inspects, or tests defective parts for conformance. Evaluates findings to formulate corrective actions.
+ Applies electrical, electronic, and mechanical principles to components and systems, including assembly, analysis, and documentation of results; construction of developmental assemblies, sub-assemblies, and components; and quality testing.
+ Responsible for research and/or product development in more than one engineering discipline.
+ Supports and participates in the design, test, modification, fabrication, and assembly of electro-mechanical systems.

This requisition may be filled at a higher grade based on qualifications listed below.

This requisition may be filled as either a Principal or a Sr. Principal RF Hardware Engineer.

**Basic Qualifications for a Principal RF Hardware Engineer:**

+ Bachelors Degree from an accredited university and 5 years of related experience, or a Masters degree and 3 years of related experience, or a PhD and 0 years of related experience. An additional 4 years of related experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
+ Power system (DC & low voltage AC) design
+ Loopback testing and link strength + quality (G/T) analysis experience
+ Troubleshooting electrical systems down to LRU level
+ Creating electrical diagrams, signal flow diagrams
+ Experience with MS Office suite of tools (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project)
+ A current active in-scope U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance is required to start

**Basic Qualifications for a Sr. Principal RF Hardware Engineer:**

+ Bachelors Degree from an accredited university and 9 years of related experience, or a Masters degree and 7 years of related experience, or a PhD and 4 years of related experience. An additional 4 years of related experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
+ Power system (DC & low voltage AC) design
+ Loopback testing and link strength + quality (G/T) analysis experience
+ Troubleshooting electrical systems down to LRU level
+ Creating electrical diagrams, signal flow diagrams
+ Experience with MS Office suite of tools (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project)
+ A current active in-scope U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance is required to start

**Preferred Qualifications:**

+ Bachelors degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or RF Engineering or related discipline.
+ Circuit Card Analysis and/or design experience
+ Familiarity with functional analysis, detailed studies, interface definition to translate system requirements into subsystem specifications
+ Familiarity with integration, installation, test, and documentation of new and/or modified capabilities into complex systems.
+ Familiarity with hand tools and test equipment, and the use thereof
+ Ability to travel between 10 and 25% of the year
+ Ability to work independently with multi-disciplined teams within the program
+ Active Top Secret/SCI security clearance or the ability to obtain
+ Military experience or experience interacting with military customer
+ Experience developing ground terminals (S and K band systems specifically is a plus)
+ Experience with tactical datalinks
+ Experience with fiber-optic links (using fiber testing tools for troubleshooting are a plus).
+ Signal loss & link budget calculation experience
+ Digital Signal Processing (DSP) experience (specifically Modems and Front-End Processors for antennas)
+ HEMP hardened system development, and/or testing experience
+ Environmental hardening, and/or testing experience

Salary Range: $92,200.00 - $138,400.00Salary Range 2: $114,300.00 - $171,500.00

Employees may be eligible for 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 health and safety of our employees and their families is a top priority** . The company encourages employees to remain up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations. U.S. Northrop Grumman employees may be required, in the future, to be vaccinated or have an approved disability/medical or religious accommodation, pursuant to future court decisions and/or government action on the currently stayed federal contractor vaccine mandate under Executive Order 14042 https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/contractors/ .

Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action 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/AA and Pay Transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO . U.S. Citizenship is required for most positions.

We are a pioneering company.

With careers across all areas: air, cyber, land, sea and space our 90,000 employees work as one to defend and define the future. Northrop Grumman careers and internships are as varied as your interests, with a lifetime of potential that will give you every opportunity to do your best work. Working together with people from many backgrounds, personal passions and disciplines, we share a drive to push the boundaries of science, technology and engineering to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide.