Cyber Systems Engineer - Level 4

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE TYPE: None

TRAVEL: No

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’s Space Sector is seeking a Cyber Systems Engineer – Level 4 to join our team in Chandler, AZ .

The System Security Engineer - Level 4 serves as the technical authority responsible for defining, governing, and validating the entire security posture of a complex missile weapon system across its full lifecycle. This includes enterprise-level security decisions, AT strategy, Cybersecurity architecture, Program Protection, exportability, supply-chain assurance, and survivability against highly capable adversaries.

This individual sets the technical direction for the program, mentors engineering staff, leads major design reviews, interfaces directly with the customer community, and ensures that the delivered system complies with all relevant regulations, guidance, and DoD policies.

Essential Functions/Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical authority for System Security Engineering (SSE), Anti-Tamper (AT), Cybersecurity, Exportability, and Program Protection across a major missile/weapon program. Develop overarching security architecture, strategy, and implementation roadmap. 

• Lead the identification and classification of Critical Program Information (CPI), perform advanced threat and vulnerability assessments, and define risk acceptance criteria and trade-offs balancing security, cost, performance, and schedule. 

• Author, review, and approve key security program artifacts: Program Protection Plan (PPP), System Security Plan (SSP), Security Classification Guide (SCG), AT Plan, Exportability Assessment, supply-chain risk assessments, and other compliance/regulatory documentation. 

• Oversee implementation of security controls (hardware, firmware, software, supply chain, physical, personnel, industrial security) across the system development life cycle (design, integration, production, sustainment). Ensure countermeasures are effective and compliance with DoD and NIST guidance (e.g., NIST SP 800-160, RMF, DoD AT policies). 

• Lead Verification & Validation (V&V), security testing, and certification/authorization processes, including risk acceptance documentation, and periodic security reviews. 

• Serve as mentor and technical leader across SSE, AT, and Cybersecurity teams; provide guidance, training, and oversight to mid- and junior-level engineers. Interface regularly with program management, system engineers, leadership, and customer stakeholders to communicate security posture, risk, and mitigation strategy.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 8 years of professional experience Master’s degree with 6 years of professional experience

• Demonstrated experience with Anti-Tamper design and implementation for protection of CPI on classified DoD programs; deep working knowledge of DoD and NIST processes/frameworks (e.g., DoD AT policy, NIST SP 800-160, RMF, etc.).

• Proven track record of leading security architecture for embedded weapon systems, overseeing risk assessments, countermeasure design, security documentation creation, and evaluation of hardware/firmware/software components for compliance and secure operation.

• Must have ability to obtain DoD Secret (or higher) clearance

• U.S. citizenship

• Strong leadership, communication, and cross-discipline collaboration skills; ability to interface with senior management, program leads, customers, and multi-discipline engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience authoring and leading Program Protection Plans, Security Classification Guides, AT Plans, Exportability Assessments, Supply Chain Risk Management, and other program-level security documents. 

• Demonstrated success delivering security for complex embedded/missile/weapon systems across full lifecycle, including involvement in certification/authorization and compliance audits.

• In-depth knowledge of threat-modeling methodologies, adversary capabilities, hardware/firmware reverse-engineering countermeasures, hardware-assurance and tamper-resistance technologies, and security validation (V&V) processes.

• Prior experience in mentoring teams, guiding SSE/AT strategy, and leading cross-functional trade studies, risk assessments, and security cost/performance trade-offs.

Curious about all the exciting developments with the Northrop Grumman Space Sector? Click the link below:

Working at Northrop Grumman is more than just a paycheck. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive at work and in life. For more information on our Total Rewards package, please visit our Total Rewards site.

Primary Level Salary Range: $135,000.00 - $202,600.00

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 U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.