Sr Principal AI Engineer Systems

Join Northrop Grumman supporting mission-focused AI and secure cloud systems at an onsite location in Northern Virginia. This Senior Principal AI Engineer Systems role combines engineering ownership with hands-on administration of AWS and hybrid-cloud environments, including automation and troubleshooting across Linux and Windows systems. You will also contribute to “home-grown” mission support AI solutions while maintaining required security standards.

Location: Chantilly, VA (onsite)
Compensation: USD 172,100 - 258,100 per year
Travel: up to 10%
Clearance: TS/SCI with Polygraph required for start
Relocation: No relocation assistance available
Primary level salary range: $172,100.00 - $258,100.00

Benefits

• Health Plan and health insurance coverage
• Savings Plan
• Paid Time Off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business
• Company paid holidays
• Life and disability insurance
• Additional benefits including Education Assistance and Training and Development
• 9/80 Work Schedule (where available)

Responsibilities

• Develop and integrate “Home-Grown” mission support AI solutions
• Provide Engineering and Administrative support onsite for a team of developers and testers, including adapting from industry-standard procedures to meet mission needs while maintaining system security standards
• Collaborate with a team to design, build, and maintain AWS and hybrid-cloud systems
• Administer systems based on Linux and Windows operating systems
• Maintain and troubleshoot IP networking systems supporting AWS and hybrid-cloud environments, including IPv4 networking
• Automate deployment, operations, and maintenance using Infrastructure as Code and Configuration Management tooling

Requirements

• Must be a US citizen and have an active TS/SCI with Polygraph to be considered
• Minimum education and experience:
  • 8 years with Bachelor’s Degree
  • 6 years with Masters
  • 4 years with PhD
  • Or 12 years of experience in lieu of a degree
• Experience designing, deploying, and administering cloud-based solutions
• Experience with architecture, maintenance, and administration of Linux and Windows in large enterprise environments
• Experience automating tasks using tools such as Ansible, Bash, PowerShell, Puppet, or Python
• Proven experience with IT Systems Design, Deployment and Administration

Preferred Qualifications

• Cloud service certification (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google, or similar)
• Experience developing, deploying, and working through accreditation approvals for AI systems in a mission environment
• Experience with one or more programming languages
• Extensive experience troubleshooting and designing IPv4 networking, including Subnetting, OSPF routing, VLANs, and VPNs
• Recent roles in technical or team leadership positions
• Knowledge of cloud database management (e.g., MySQL RDS and PostgreSQL)
• Knowledge of cybersecurity in the context of the cloud
• Comfortable working in an Agile development environment
• Experience managing and manipulating containers (e.g., PODMAN, DOCKER, KUBERNETES)

Technologies

• AWS
• Linux and Windows (operating systems)
• Infrastructure as Code
• Configuration Management
• Ansible, Bash, PowerShell, Puppet, Python
• IP networking and IPv4 networking
• OSPF, VLANs, VPNs
• MySQL RDS, PostgreSQL
• PODMAN, Docker, Kubernetes