Principal Electrical Test Engineer

The Defense Systems Group has an immediate opening for a Principal Electrical Test Engineer to support the development, integration, verification, qualification, and production of advanced defense electronic systems for Department of Defense (DoD) and national security customers.

This position supports the electrical integration and test of complex military hardware including embedded electronics, RF and microwave systems, Software Defined Radios (SDRs), phased array antennas, electronic warfare systems, secure communications equipment, and mission-critical C4ISR platforms. The successful candidate will develop and execute comprehensive test strategies that ensure products meet stringent military performance, reliability, environmental, and interoperability requirements.

Working as part of a multidisciplinary engineering team, the Senior Electrical Test Engineer will lead electrical integration activities from prototype development through qualification and production while interfacing directly with systems engineering, hardware design, software development, manufacturing, quality, and government customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute electrical integration, verification, validation, qualification, and production acceptance test plans and procedures.
• Design, develop, and fabricate electrical and mechanical test fixtures, interface adapters, harnesses, and breakout boxes to support engineering development, subsystem integration, environmental qualification, and production acceptance testing. Coordinate fixture requirements with hardware design, manufacturing, and quality engineering to ensure repeatable and reliable test execution.
• Design and implement electrical test architectures for complex defense electronic systems.
• Develop automated test solutions using LabVIEW, TestStand, MATLAB, Python, or equivalent software tools.
• Integrate and troubleshoot electrical hardware at the board, subsystem, LRU, and system levels.
• Perform verification testing using engineering laboratory instrumentation including:
  • Oscilloscopes, Spectrum Analyzers, Vector Network Analyzers, Signal Generators Logic Analyzers, Power Supplies, Electronic Loads.
• Support system integration activities for military communication systems, RF subsystems, embedded processors, and digital electronics.
• Analyze electrical performance, identify root cause of failures, and recommend corrective actions.
• Support environmental qualification testing in accordance with military standards.
• Perform EMI/EMC pre-compliance and qualification testing.
• Support Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) and system integration laboratories.
• Develop automated data acquisition, analysis, and reporting tools.
• Prepare technical documentation supporting customer design reviews and qualification programs.
• Support Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), System Acceptance Testing (SAT), and customer witness testing.
• Interface directly with U.S. Government customers, prime contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers.

• Mentor junior engineers and technicians while providing technical leadership during integration and test activities.

Clearance Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Security Clearance.
• Willingness to work in classified laboratory environments and support secure development, integration, and test activities.
• Ability to comply with all program-specific security requirements, including handling of classified materials and controlled technical data (ITAR/EAR).

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
• 8–12 years of relevant experience or 6–10 years with a Master's degree.
• U.S. Citizenship.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Security Clearance (active clearance preferred).
• Strong understanding of:
  • Analog and digital electronics, RF design, Embedded hardware, Power distribution, Electrical system integration, High-speed digital interfaces.
• Experience developing electrical verification and qualification procedures.
• Experience troubleshooting complex military electronic systems.
• Experience using automated test equipment and laboratory instrumentation.
• Ability to interpret electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, PCB layouts, and interface control documents (ICDs).
• Strong technical writing and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Secret Security Clearance.
• Experience performing RF and microwave testing using Vector Network Analyzers (VNAs), Spectrum Analyzers, Signal Generators, Power Meters, Noise Figure Analyzers, and Oscilloscopes.
• Experience conducting antenna range testing, including near-field and far-field measurements, antenna pattern characterization, gain, EIRP, sidelobe analysis, polarization, beam steering verification, and antenna calibration.
• Experience operating commercial antenna measurement systems such as NSI-MI, Orbit/FR, or MVG antenna ranges.
• Experience supporting integration and testing of phased array antenna systems, Software Defined Radios (SDRs), radar, or electronic warfare (EW) systems.
• Familiarity with RF calibration techniques, uncertainty analysis, and military antenna test methodologies.

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

Pay Range:

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.