Principal/Sr. Principal Digital Design Engineer

Company: Northrop Grumman
Location: Rolling Meadows
Posted on: April 1, 2026

Job Description:

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No 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. Northrop Grumman Mission Systems is a trusted provider of mission-enabling solutions for global security. Our Engineering and Sciences (E&S) organization pushes the boundaries of innovation, redefines engineering capabilities, and drives advances in various sciences. Our team 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. Come be a part of our mission! Northrop Grumman Corporation is offering a challenging and rewarding career as a Principal/Sr. Principal Digital Electrical Engineer within the Mission Systems Sector located at the Rolling Meadows - Illinois facility. The Principal/Sr. Principal Digital Engineer role involves full life-cycle product development from system concepts and requirements through design, production, verification, and field support while working in integrated product teams spanning Engineering, Manufacturing, and Program Management. Digital subsystem and circuit card designs utilize the latest FPGA technologies from all major vendors and device families including Xilinx, Altera, and Actel, and support high speed interfaces, Radio Frequency (RF) and Electro-Optical (EO) DSP, controls, data links, embedded processing and interfaces. Job Description: As a Principal/Sr. Principal Digital Electrical Engineer, you will join our diverse team and be responsible for research, design, and development of digital hardware products. Your expertise in digital component design and analysis, modeling and simulation, and circuit level design and test are desired for this position. This position will be full-time and on-site at our Rolling Meadows, IL. Location This position can be filled at the Principal or Sr. Principal level based on requirements below Basic Qualifications Principal Digital Design Engineer Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or similar engineering discipline with a minimum 5 years of digital electronics design experience or 3 years of digital electronics design experience with a Master's degree in a technical field. Digital circuit design experience, including simulation & schematic capture through test and integration Hands-on prototyping and debug experience testing complex digital subsystems, such as complex circuit card development involving FPGAs, and/or embedded processors, and/or high-speed interfaces Demonstrated ability to translate system performance and operational specifications into hardware requirements, design, and test specifications Familiarity with documentation, revision control and review systems similar to DOORS, ClearCase, and ClearQuest US Citizen Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret security clearance Basic Qualifications for a Sr. Principal Digital Engineer Bachelors’ degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or similar engineering discipline with a minimum 8 years of digital electronics design experience or 6 years of digital electronics design experience with a Master's degree in a technical field. Digital circuit design experience, including simulation & schematic capture through test and integration Hands-on prototyping and debug experience testing complex digital subsystems, such as complex circuit card development involving FPGAs, and/or embedded processors, and/or high-speed interfaces Demonstrated ability to translate system performance and operational specifications into hardware requirements, design, and test specifications Familiarity with documentation, revision control and review systems like DOORS, ClearCase, and ClearQuest US Citizen Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret security clearance Preferred Qualifications: An advanced degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering with a minimum 12 years of digital electronics design experience Working knowledge of Electronic Warfare systems Recent circuit card design experience utilizing circuit-related tools including Cadence Concept, Allegro, and/or Mentor DxDesigner, Expedition Working experience with ClearCase/ClearQuest and DOORS Proven skills to include team leadership, communicating with all levels of an organization internally and externally, adaptable, creative, collaborative and comfortable working independently and enjoys solving difficult problems Current Secret or Top-Secret Security Clearance Primary Level Salary Range: $108,800.00 - $163,200.00 Secondary Level Salary Range: $135,800.00 - $203,600.00 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, South Bend , Principal/Sr. Principal Digital Design Engineer, Engineering , Rolling Meadows, Indiana