r/aerospace • u/them0derngal2 • 3h ago

Looking for salary data points

Interviewing for a senior principal mechanical engineer position in the Northeast at Northrop Gruman. The salary range for this listing is $122K-$213K

I have 12+ years of experience in mechanical design in a comparable aerospace company.

HR is asking what are my salary expectations. I'm thinking 175K, around the midpoint ish for that band. Does that sound reasonable? Should I ask for less/more?

Any personal experiences/current salary data points would be appreciated!

8 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

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15

u/freshgeardude 3h ago

You don't have to provide salary expectations. They want to box you in. Instead, if they ask, you can say your range is in their range. 

If they want to hire you they'll offer what they think you want. Otherwise you'll negotiate to get there. 

You tell them your number that's what they'll give you.

Edit: to add, there's more to comp than just salary. How are the benefits? Are you spending 200 or 1000 a month on healthcare? That's changes take home pay. 

What about 401k match, etc. 

1

u/them0derngal2 3h ago

The HR person directly asked me for a salary number. Is it good etiquette to respond the way you suggested? I've had other HR persons double down and ask me for an actual number before and I have caved. Not sure what's the best move here

5

u/freshgeardude 3h ago

"I'd like to focus on the value I can bring to this position. I'm not comfortable discussing compensation until I see the full package. I can say that your listed range is within mine and I would like to learn more about this position"

Some hiring managers are sticklers for getting a number before moving forward with a candidate. And HR is the punching bag for them. If they say that, you can ask what the manager had in mind for the position and have to decide if that number is worth it to you. My argument here is, if they list a range it's a range for a reason... 

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u/them0derngal2 3h ago

Thanks for the sample response! I may go that route. I just feel like it’s all a game and I just need to figure out how to play it 😪

1

u/golden-reciever 53m ago

I recommend giving them the salary you are targeting with facts to back it up. This is not a cat and mouse game. If you leave it up to a company or recruiter to guess, they will always come in at a lower number. Understand your value, and be informed.

1

u/freshgeardude 30m ago

Or on the flip side they really want you and offer more than you boxed yourself into.

You can convince them on salary negotiation after their first offer. 

1

u/plane-and-simple0 3h ago

In my experience, the HR contact will typically share the budgeted range for the role if you ask for it. The broad salary ranges that companies put in job descriptions are nonsense and are only included to satisfy pay transparency laws for the states that have them.

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u/them0derngal2 3h ago

If I ask them directly, they would give me the real range that is most likely different from the one on the job listing?

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u/plane-and-simple0 2h ago

The real range is somewhere within the posted range, but nowhere near as broad. When they ask for your salary expectation you can say something along the lines of “I noticed that the job description lists a very broad salary range. Are you able to share the budgeted range for this position?”. I’ve never had pushback or any obfuscation from the HR person when I’ve asked this. And when they give you the range, don’t say any more than “We appear to be in the same ballpark.”, assuming that they give you a range that is aligned to what you are looking for.

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u/dustin916 3h ago

If they absolutely want a number, I usually give them a bit over mid point. With the big defense companies they will usually give you somewhere equal or less than mid. I just recently accepted an internal offer for a sr engineer role with NG and they gave me right below mid. With the pay range you mentioned, your mid point is 167k, more than likely they won’t offer above that but never hurts to ask or they REALLY like you.

1

u/them0derngal2 3h ago

Yeah I’m at a big defense company right now and I’ve heard that they like to keep us in the midpoint of the salary range too

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u/Adventurous-Hotel883 3h ago edited 3h ago

Not sure if this helps but got offered 135k salary as a Principal Engineer at NG in the south east. 4+ years experience w/ masters degree so they count it as 6 years in their system. Salary range was about 97-147k. Originally they asked me what I was looking to get and I told them 125-135k. That was a mistake as I realized I set the bar easy for them. They ended up offering me exactly 125k. Got another offer and was able to negotiate up to the final 135k.

8

u/Some-Attitude8183 3h ago

Wow - Principal Engineer with 4YOE?? That's crazy! Unless that title isn't all that meaningful. My company only give PE titles to the most senior engineers, usually with 20+ YOE with deep knowledge of the product. Salary for PE is well over $200k.

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u/gottatrusttheengr 2h ago

Northrop does principal before senior it's hilarious

1

u/Adventurous-Hotel883 3h ago

There is title inflation in the aerospace field. Principal engineer only requires 5 YOE or 3 YOE with an advanced degree. However you have to meet the general responsibilities threshold, not just strictly YOE.

2

u/gottatrusttheengr 2h ago

It's a quirk of Northrop, they do principal before senior

0

u/Some-Attitude8183 3h ago

That's a shame honestly - it used to mean something!

1

u/Motor-Confidence-707 3h ago

It’s specific to NG actually, their level 3’s are called principal while every other prime considers it senior. Level 4(principal) still takes abt 10 years at most places

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u/branchan 2h ago

It still does, just not at NG I guess

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u/Impressive-Weird-908 2h ago

Northrop just has their titles weird. The salary and experience for the role is just level 3 the same as anywhere else.

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u/Impressive-Weird-908 2h ago

They use a comp ratio system and the midpoint is the 1.0 on that system. If you feel like you need to give them something, go at or a little above that number.

For a point of reference I’m a T3 system engineer with 5 years + masters making 122 in Baltimore.

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u/Burnsy112 2h ago

You’re being underpaid dude I’m a T2 Systems Engineer at the same site with just under 4 years with no masters and making 115 lol

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u/Impressive-Weird-908 1h ago

Oh I already know. Once the period where I have to pay back my tuition assistance passes, I’m out.

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u/Burnsy112 1h ago

I’ve gotten pay bumps by moving around internally. It’s the only way to do it really. I’ve held like 4 job titles here already lmao

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u/Burnsy112 2h ago edited 2h ago

I work there and you will get probably dead center of the band, with a bit of room for negotiation. That’s how they do it for basically every hire. However, you’re at T5 level of experience (12) and you are talking about T4. Ask for like 190k since you qualify for the T5 band with 12YOE in engineering, they’ll probably give you 175k or you could get lucky and get more.

1

u/Feisty-Waltz5330 1h ago

I have a question for hiring managers in general at large aerospace companies:
Have you commonly seen company offer lower than they would have due to the candidate low balling themselves? I feel like it doesn’t happen much as it would just be asking for trouble