Principal/Sr Principal Software Engineer – Data Analyst

Northrop Grumman offers a collaborative engineering culture with a clear focus on data analytics and cross-disciplinary toolset development. This on-site role in Palmdale, CA provides the opportunity to lead mission-critical software work, collaborate across engineering domains, and contribute to systems that support advanced communications subsystems and payload technologies. A Top Secret clearance is required.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage
• Life and disability insurance
• Savings plan
• Company paid holidays
• Paid time off for vacation and personal matters
• Overtime eligibility
• Shift differential
• Discretionary bonus
• Long Term Incentives
• Relocation assistance may be available

Compensation

Salary ranges include $114,000.00 - $171,000.00 (primary level) and $142,200.00 - $213,400.00 (secondary level) per year.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of engineers to build, integrate, and sustain an enterprise toolset that supports cross‑discipline engineering work.
• Develop toolsets to leverage large operational data sets for maintenance of communications subsystems and advanced payload technologies.
• Collaborate within an engineering environment spanning Cloud & Application, Communications & Networking, Advanced Payload Technologies, Test Automation, DevSecOps, and Systems Test.
• Partner with stakeholders to design, build, and maintain mission critical systems.
• Identify technical risks and opportunities, and proactively craft mitigation plans.
• Communicate team progress and achievements to senior leadership.
• Coordinate with the Product Owner to manage the product roadmap and reflect changing customer requirements.
• Establish and maintain continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines to ensure stability and quality across the software lifecycle.
• Continue expanding personal skills and maintaining relevant certifications.

Education and Experience

Level 3 qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline and 5 years of related engineering experience; OR
• Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 3 years of related engineering experience; OR
• PhD in a STEM discipline and 1 year of related engineering experience.

Level 4 qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline and 8 years of related engineering experience; OR
• Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of related engineering experience; OR
• PhD in a STEM discipline and 4 years of related engineering experience.

Technical Experience

• Hands-on software development using Python, Java, C++, or MATLAB to enable data exploitation.
• Predictive trend analysis, including AI/ML techniques.
• Designing and maintaining complex databases across multiple IT infrastructures.
• Experience with Parquet, SQL, Neo4j, Elasticsearch, or MongoDB.
• Container orchestration with Kubernetes, Amazon EKS, Docker Swarm, Nomad, or Red Hat OpenShift.
• Automation using Ansible, Bash, PowerShell, Puppet, or Python.
• Performance monitoring with Elastic Stack or Grafana.
• Interpreting complex ICDs and drawings to build new data structures from raw sources.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills using Atlassian tools (Confluence, Jira, Bitbucket).
• Solid agile background with a willingness to adapt across teams.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility (background investigation within the last 5 years or Continuous Evaluation).
• Ability to obtain and maintain initial SAP access via PAR, and to obtain subsequent SAP PARs as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active U.S. Top Secret SCI clearance or higher.
• Current SAP clearance.
• Experience in datacenter infrastructure, communications subsystems, or advanced payload technologies.
• Experience leading an Agile software development team of mixed abilities.
• Experience supporting delivery leadership in roadmaps and delivery timelines.
• Experience creating and maintaining DevOps CI/CD pipelines with Maven, Bamboo, GitLab, or Bitbucket.
• Experience migrating to cloud-ready architectures and implementing microservices.
• Experience automating deployment, operation, and maintenance using Infrastructure as Code and configuration management tooling.
• Experience administering a Kubernetes platform using Red Hat OpenShift.

Technologies

• Python, Java, C++, MATLAB
• Parquet, SQL, Neo4j, Elasticsearch, MongoDB
• Kubernetes, Amazon EKS, Docker Swarm, Nomad, Red Hat OpenShift
• Ansible, Bash, PowerShell, Puppet
• Elastic Stack, Grafana
• Atlassian Suite (Confluence, Jira, Bitbucket), Maven, Bamboo, GitLab, Bitbucket

Clearance and Travel

Clearance required for start: Top Secret with SCI eligibility. Ability to obtain and maintain initial SAP access via PAR, and subsequent SAP PARs as needed.

Travel required: Yes, up to 25% of the time.

Location

On-site in Palmdale, CA. The job description notes on-site work in Palmdale or Rancho Bernardo, CA.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman offers opportunities to work on revolutionary systems with broad impact. The Aeronautics Systems division is seeking a Principal or Senior Principal Software Engineer – Data Analyst to join the team on site in California, contributing to cross‑discipline engineering efforts within an Integrated Product Team framework.