Principal/Sr Principal Engineer Systems Test- Active Secret Clearance Required
$103,600–$155,400 year
On-siteSan Diego, California, United States
Job Summary
Plan, coordinate, and execute dry-run and formal system-level test activities to evaluate and certify hardware and software for ground and flight release. Develop, execute, and document integrated software/hardware test procedures to verify functional compliance with system requirements, including requirement-to-test traceability. Design nominal, off-nominal, end-to-end test scenarios assessing performance, reliability, interoperability, and operational effectiveness. Analyze system requirements and translate them into detailed test plans, procedures, and acceptance criteria. Support integration, functional, and regression testing in laboratory and operational environments, coordinating data collection, analysis, and closure of verification metrics. Drive lab configuration technical rigor and compliance with company/program/security requirements, applying Agile testing practices to enable iterative development. Communicate test status, findings, risks, and recommendations to engineering leadership and program stakeholders across diverse teams.
Required Qualifications
- Relocation assistance may be available
- Clearance required for start: Yes
- Clearance type: Secret
- Travel: Yes, 10% of the time
- Must have the ability to communicate up to leadership, and across to teammates and team members
- Must be able to thrive in a fast-paced work environment with high expectations, significantly diverse assignments, and collaborative team settings across all levels
- A successful track record of program performance and test experience is required
- Flexibility for weekends/multiple shifts/off-hours as test schedules require
- Bachelor's of Science degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) discipline with 5 years of related engineering, professional or military experience
- Master's degree in STEM with 3 years of related engineering, professional or military experience
- PhD in STEM with 1 year of related engineering, professional or military experience
- Experience in System Test, Software Development, and/or Systems Engineering
- Experience developing and executing system-level test procedures and maintaining requirement-to-test traceability
- Experience with Windows/Linux operating systems and Virtual Machines (VMs)
- Your ability to transfer and maintain the final adjudicated U.S. government Secret clearance (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
- Flexibility to support weekends, multiple shifts, and off-hours onsite as required
- Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline with 9 years of related engineering, professional or military experience
- Master's degree in STEM with 7 years of related engineering, professional or military experience
- PhD in STEM with 4 years of related engineering, professional or military experience
- U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions
Desired Qualifications
- System-level lab test execution experience, including test planning and coordination of events
- Experience supporting lab operations/hot bench
- Understanding of Agile testing methodology
- Experience with CI and/or automated test frameworks
- Experience writing scripts (Python preferred)
- Experience with Java/C++ is a plus
- Tools: IBM Rational (DOORS/ClearQuest) and/or Atlassian (JIRA/Git/Confluence)
- Experience developing verification/validation strategy and verification metrics maintenance
- Experience in test equipment implementation, lab design, and infrastructure readiness
- Experience with communications & networking subsystems
- Strong written/verbal communication skills; able to communicate across teammates and up through leadership
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