Principal Software Engineer (AHT)

About the role

• RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available
• CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes
• CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret
• TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

About the role

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.

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Principal Software Engineer. This position will be located at our Defense Systems Sector in Hollywood, Maryland

The qualified candidate will become part of Northrop Grumman’s Mission Data Management division. This role will be in support of the Collaborative Mission Planning Continuum (CMPC) program.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Define and communicate a clear product vision, strategy, and roadmap aligned with mission objectives.
• Own and continuously groom the product backlog; prioritize features, enhancements, and defect fixes based on business value, risk, and stakeholder input.
• Act as the primary liaison between customers, program managers, engineering, and senior leadership; gather and synthesize requirements, feedback, and constraints.
• Facilitate product demos, sprint reviews, and release planning; ensure transparent communication of status and upcoming milestones.
• Conduct multidisciplinary research and collaborates with equipment designers and/or hardware engineers in the planning, design, development, and utilization of electronic data processing systems for product and commercial software.
• Determine computer user needs; analyzes system capabilities to resolve problems on program intent, output requirements, input data acquisition, programming techniques and controls; prepares operating instructions; designs and develops compilers and assemblers, utility programs, and operating systems.
• Ensure software standards are met.

Basic Qualifications

• B.S. in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Math) field and 5 years of relevant experience.
• Active SECRET U.S. Government security clearance (adjudicated within the last 5 years).
• Experience with/using Agile Methodology and Continuous Integration (CI) / Continuous Deployment (CD) Tools and Practices.
• Proficiency in any combination of C#, Java, or.NET.
• Experience with Object Oriented Design and Software Design Patterns.
• Experience with/using Relational Databases, SQL.
• Experience with/using one or more of the following scripting languages: yaml, Python, PowerShell, Curl.
• Experience with Agile Software Development and DevOps practices
• Experience with/using one or more of the following configuration management tools: Git, GitHub.
• Experience with the Atlassian Tool Suite: Bitbucket, Jira, Confluence.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Microservice development and service communication protocols such as REST.
• Microservice Architectures (e.g. REST, AsyncAPI, etc.)
• Frontend framework experience (e.g. React).
• Experience with Containers / Docker and/or Kubernetes.
• Works well in a team environment.
• Experience with cloud technology platforms such as AWS / Azure.
• Excellent technical (e.g. Software Documentation, UML/Entity Relationship Diagrams, Requirements) & nontechnical communication skills.

Primary Level Salary Range

$114,000.00 - $171,000.00

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.