Principal Engineer Software Mission Assurance (Space/Satellite Systems)
- Location:
- Dulles, Virginia, United States of America | Gilbert, Arizona, United States of America
About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees are Defining Possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services. Northrop Grumman careers and internships are as varied as your interests, with a lifetime of potential that will allow you to work together with people from many backgrounds, personal passions and disciplines.
Software Mission Assurance is a unique function within the Tactical Space Systems, working on spacecraft programs, highly interactive with multiple subsystems, and knowledgeable of the overall spacecraft software development life-cycle process related to software planning, design, implementation, verification, validation, acceptance and delivery. To be successful in this role, you should have a strong understanding of the Agile software life cycle, software and firmware industry process, product compliance audits and non-conformance system, and a detail oriented approach to identify and capture noncompliance and risks throughout the software’s development life cycle and maintenance. Excellent people and technical skills are required to coordinate with various subsystems, conduct compliance analysis and audits, implement corrective actions, and interact with management, customers and subcontractors.
Note: This is not a software tester position.
In this role you will:
- Derive software assurance requirements from standards, contract requirements, statement of work, processes and program plans. Develop Software Mission Assurance Plan, and implement tasks per the plan
- Participate in agile life cycle, product line development supporting a wide variety of Class A to Class D customers
- Participate in sprint planning and backlog refinement ensuring team's acceptance criteria for stories and tasks is appropriate and being met as planned
- Ensure build and verification testing of new features being added every sprint, as well as full regression testing for all previously implemented functionality in every sprint is performed per plans
- Be a member of the Software Configuration Control Boards, review software changes and approved implementation using related software problem tracking tools (e.g. TRAC, Razor, Jira, etc.)
- Witness software verification testing, software patches and software qualification to ensure compliance to requirements and procedures
- Participate in product peer review and approved product for configuration control and release before products are made available for internal or external customers
- Assist in collecting status reports and metrics. Provide weekly and monthly status to the management
- Perform process and product audits ensuring compliance to established standards
- Identify process and product non-conformances, determine root cause and support implement corrective and preventive action
- Demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate technical topics to management and non-technical audiences
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree (4 years of relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree)
- Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience
- U.S. citizen
- Ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret/SCI Clearance
Preferred Qualifications:
- TS/SCI clearance
- Excellent written communication and interpersonal skills
- Problem solving with ability to prioritize work load and ensure timely completion of assignments
- Strong analytical skills with computer software proficiency
- Ability to work under tight deadlines, ensure that requirements are met, and follow processes
- Exceptional customer responsiveness
- Capable of working on multiple levels of compliance requirements
- Work well under pressure and adapt well to unplanned tasks
- Ability and willingness to continuously learn and implement new processes
- Dedicated to teamwork and able to work well in a team environment
Gilbert AZ salary range: $95.000-$132,000
Dulles VA salary range: $110,000-$155,000