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Senior Principal Engineer Software

Melbourne, Florida, United States
Full Time On-site

Summary

Job Description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Top Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, but they’re also making history.


Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems Sector has an opening for a Senior Principal Software Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position is in Melbourne, FL and will be primarily based on site within our office spaces to support the program and business needs. This position will be supporting capture and strategy for a key and critical program. This candidate will closely work with business development, business directors, external customers, and external subject matter experts to shape the feasibility of new missions and architectures. Operating on our 9/80 schedule means you will get every other Friday off. The position does not have remote or Hybrid work available.

Essential Functions:


We are seeking a talented and highly motivated software engineer with experience in communicating with customers, stakeholders, software developers, system engineers, and senior leadership to collect mission requirements, describe software product features, technical designs, develop feature roadmaps, and product strategy. Job includes shaping the long-term technical strategy to evolve and deliver software architecture to enable various DoD missions. Lead mission decomposition into functions, requirements, interface definitions that can be implemented by software developers. 
 
Basic Qualifications:

  • Senior Principal Software Architect (T04): Bachelor’s Degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and at least 8 years’ experience, or STEM master’s degree with 6 years’ experience, or a STEM PHD with 4 years’ engineering experience.

  • This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Top Secret clearance as well as Program Special Access within a reasonable amount of time as determined by the company to meet its business needs

  • Contingency: This position is contingent upon ability to obtain a DoD Top Secret Clearance, can start with interim Top Secret

  • Experience designing and implementing on-board mission system software ensuring portability, modularity, adaptability, and scalability.

  • Experience with Agile best practices and processes; tasking, accountability, interception, process enforcement

  • Experience developing software in real-time, multi-threaded architecture

  • Experience developing in C/C++ and or Java.

  • Experience developing and debugging hardware/software systems

  • Knowledge of engineering practices and patterns for the full software/hardware/network development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and V&V

 
Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience integrating hardware/software from suppliers into avionic platforms.

  • Comms and RF Systems Experience

  • Experienced in Model Based System Engineer including use of Cameo Modeling

  • Experience designing or architecting (design patterns, scaling) operational user experiences


 

Primary Level Salary Range: $98,400.00 - $147,600.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the United States, building advanced systems across space, air, land, sea, and cyber domains. The company is known for some of the most complex defense programs in the world, including stealth aircraft, autonomous systems, missile defense technologies, satellites, and space-based intelligence platforms that support U.S. national security operations.

For job seekers, Northrop Grumman offers careers across a wide range of high-impact fields including aerospace engineering, software development, cybersecurity, systems engineering, manufacturing, program management, and intelligence support. The company is especially attractive to veterans, cleared professionals, and engineers who want to work on mission-critical systems that directly support the Department of Defense and intelligence community. Many roles involve long-term programs with significant technical depth and real-world operational impact.

Unlike smaller defense startups focused on narrow capabilities, Northrop Grumman operates across multiple major mission areas, giving employees exposure to highly advanced programs such as stealth platforms, space systems, autonomous vehicles, and next-generation command-and-control systems. The company is also a major leader in classified space and intelligence systems, where cutting-edge engineering and secure infrastructure play a critical role in national defense.

As global competition in space, cyber, and advanced military systems continues to intensify, Northrop Grumman remains one of the most strategically important employers in the defense industry. For professionals seeking stable, highly technical careers with long-term impact on national security, Northrop Grumman continues to stand out as a leading destination in aerospace and defense.

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