Ground Software Lead Engineer/Architect

Northrop Grumman; United States; On-site; USD 167,000 - 289,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off (PTO)

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Ground Software Lead Engineer/Architect (Level 6) within the Space Sector seeks a seasoned software leader to guide architecture, planning, and execution for mission-critical systems across multiple sites. The role emphasizes capability roadmapping, reuse, and metrics-driven management from proposal to deployment.

You will own software framework concepts, contribute to BPEs, and ensure scalable, high-quality software across programs, with travel up to 10% and collaboration with

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline with 12+ years of software engineering experience; Master’s degree in a STEM discipline with 10+ years of stated experience; Ph.D. in a STEM discipline with 8+ years of stated experience.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance at time of application, with the ability and willingness to obtain Special Program Access.
• Demonstrated front-end planning experience: developing capability roadmaps, decomposing capabilities into features, and defining measurable feature success criteria.
• Experience with software architecture and design for complex, mission-critical systems.
• Experience working within Agile software development lifecycles, including backlog refinement and iterative delivery.
• Experience integrating and/or leveraging third-party software frameworks.
• Proficiency with Jira for software implementation planning, tracking, and metrics reporting.
• Experience with CAMEO (or similar model-based systems engineering tools).

Responsibilities

• Lead software reuse strategies and product trade studies to maximize efficiency, commonality, and maintainability.
• Allocate system requirements into software capabilities and features; develop and maintain the software buildup plan and capability roadmap (including inputs needed for BPE).
• Review element- and component-level features to ensure alignment with higher-level capabilities; define, track, and report clear feature success criteria.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of the software framework concept, ensuring scalability and adaptability across programs.
• Support Basis of Proposal Estimates (BPE), including development and refinement of ground software cost estimates.
• Own software metrics reporting and management; configure and maintain dashboards and reports in Jira to support execution, visibility, and data-driven decision making.

Skills

Front-end planning

Capability roadmaps

Feature decomposition

Agile lifecycle

Jira planning

Software architecture

Proposal cost estimates

Product backlog ownership

CAM experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline

Master’s degree in a STEM discipline

Ph.D. in a STEM discipline

Tools

Jira

CAMEO

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.

Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector is seeking a Ground Software Lead Engineer/Architect (Level 6) to join our team of highly qualified, diverse professionals within the Western Region Software Engineering Directorate. This position can be located onsite in one of the following locations:

• Gilbert, AZ
• Redondo Beach, CA
• Morrisville, NC
• Dulles, VA

The Ground Software Lead Engineer/Architect (Level 6) will provide technical leadership for software planning, architecture, and execution, with a strong focus on capability roadmapping, reuse, and metrics-driven management across the lifecycle. Job responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Lead software reuse strategies and product trade studies to maximize efficiency, commonality, and maintainability.
• Allocate system requirements into software capabilities and features; develop and maintain the software buildup plan and capability roadmap (including inputs needed for BPE).
• Review element- and component-level features to ensure alignment with higher-level capabilities; define, track, and report clear feature success criteria.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of the software framework concept, ensuring scalability and adaptability across programs.
• Support Basis of Proposal Estimates (BPE), including development and refinement of ground software cost estimates.
• Own software metrics reporting and management; configure and maintain dashboards and reports in Jira to support execution, visibility, and data-driven decision making.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline with 12+ years of software engineering experience; Master’s degree in a STEM discipline with 10+ years of stated experience; Ph.D. in a STEM discipline with 8+ years of stated experience.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance at time of application, with the ability and willingness to obtain Special Program Access.
• Demonstrated front-end planning experience: developing capability roadmaps, decomposing capabilities into features, and defining measurable feature success criteria.
• Experience with software architecture and design for complex, mission-critical systems.
• Experience working within Agile software development lifecycles, including backlog refinement and iterative delivery.
• Experience integrating and/or leveraging third-party software frameworks.
• Proficiency with Jira for software implementation planning, tracking, and metrics reporting.
• Experience with CAMEO (or similar model-based systems engineering tools).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with software cost estimation and supporting proposal activities.
• Experience as a Product Owner or similar role managing software backlogs, priorities, and stakeholder expectations.
• Control Account Manager (CAM) experience, including cost/schedule management, variance analysis, and reporting.

Primary Level Salary Range: $166,500.00 - $289,200.00 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.

We are a pioneering company. With careers across all areas: air, cyber, land, sea and space – our 90,000 employees work as one to defend and define the future.

Northrop Grumman careers and internships are as varied as your interests, with a lifetime of potential that will give you every opportunity to do your best work.

Working together with people from many backgrounds, personal passions and disciplines, we share a drive to push the boundaries of science, technology and engineering to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide.