Principal Communications Engineer

Company: Northrop Grumman
Location: Melbourne
Posted on: April 4, 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. Please note that this opportunity is contingent on program funding. Start dates are determined after funding confirmation. 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, but they’re also making history. Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems has an opening for a Principal Communications Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position will be in Melbourne, FL and will be based within our office spaces to support the program and business needs. Operating on our 9/80 schedule means you will get every other Friday off. This position has no Hybrid or Remote work available. The selected engineer will perform as a member of an interdisciplinary team in a key effort to develop novel and innovative solutions to advanced technical problems. The successful engineer will contribute to the overall development of communications subsystems, including developing functional architectures, analyzing performance, developing and managing requirements and interfaces, and verifying/validating all allocated requirements. You will design, develop, build, and test communications subsystems in conjunction with key suppliers. Roles and Responsibilities: Support development and integration of communications subsystems and components to meet platform mission objectives Requirements development, analysis, maturation and implementation, translating customer requirements into hardware and software specifications Perform MBSE and capturing requirements, interfaces, behaviors, structures and parametric Perform performance and functional analyses Conducting detailed trade studies Performing risk analysis and developing mitigation plans and tracking to closure Collaborate with engineers and program stakeholders Developing and maintaining supplier documentation, performance-based specifications, and statements of work Technical management of program strategic partners and suppliers, including development, acquisition, acceptance, qualification, system integration and test support Review documents from the supplier’s development effort and support supplier technical interchange meetings and design reviews Identifying/planning/executing informal and formal testing of subsystem requirements in lab, troubleshooting hardware in the lab Performing aircraft ground and flight test on subsystems to validate and verify subsystem requirement and sell-off Support technical discussions with the customer and have daily interaction with management, external personnel, customers, and various sub teams A successful Communications Engineer has good leadership skills and understands the scope of the work and the impact of the work on other teams, consistently brings up concerns, issues and risks to program and technical leadership and holds the team to a high level of technical rigor. Basic Qualifications: Must have a Bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline from an accredited university AND 5 years of related professional/military experience in Engineering; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline from an accredited university AND 3 years of related professional/military experience in Engineering; or a Ph.D. AND 1 years of related professional/military experience in Engineering. Knowledge of electromagnetics in the RF spectrum (VHF through Ka bands Ability to design, select and characterize RF components to meet mission objectives Experience in one or more of the following: Designing, integrating, testing, installing, operating LOS and BLOS communication systems in airborne military applications Experience with voice, military and network waveforms Experience with performance assessment through link margin and antenna pattern analyses Experience with cryptographic implementations Experience with RF antenna and component design and performance analysis Experience with cosite analysis Your ability to transfer and maintain the final adjudicated Secret clearance (DoD must be in-scope or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation) and any program access(es) required for the position within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Company. Preferred Qualifications: Demonstrated problem-solving ability and data analysis experience Knowledge of system engineering design methods, including requirements analysis and flow-down, specification derivation and interface control documentation Demonstrated interpersonal communication, presentation skills, verbal and written communication skills Experience designing, developing, integrating, and/or testing EW or Radar subsystems for airborne platforms. Experience with RF antenna and component design and performance analysis Experience in model-based systems engineering using Cameo or similar SysML tools Experience in performance analysis using MATLAB and Excel or similar tools Familiarity with Atlassian collaboration tool set (Jira and Confluence) Experience in supplier/subcontract management Experience with developing supplier documentation, performance-based specifications, and statements of work Experience building supplier evaluation criteria and experience in conducting technical evaluations, documenting results and selection AS-FA3 Primary Level Salary Range: $98,400.00 - $147,600.00 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.

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