Lead Automation Test Engineer - Level 4

Northrop Grumman; United States; On-site; USD 118,000 - 176,000; Full time

Job summary

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Sr. Principal Test Engineer Lead to standardize software testing across TASD teams. You will drive the transition from ad-hoc manual tests to rigorous, automated processes with comprehensive documentation and evidence.

The role spans TMSS, ROSE, MDASim, TGx, and MDST, requiring collaboration across environments with cybersecurity constraints. You will mentor test engineers, define plans and metrics, and integrate testing into CI/CD pipelines while engaging customers

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in STEM discipline with 8+ years related experience
• Master’s Degree in STEM with 6+ years related experience
• PhD with 4+ years related experience
• Active in-scope U.S. Government Secret clearance required
• Ability to lead and mentor test engineers and set priorities

Responsibilities

• Lead the definition and implementation of test automation strategy and roadmap
• Develop standard test processes, plans, results documentation, and best practices
• Create and execute manual and automated regression, integration, and end-to-end tests
• Develop test tools and harnesses; train others in their use
• Embed automation into CI/CD pipelines and enforce quality gates
• Collaborate with customers and stakeholders; present test strategies and results
• Define and track test/quality metrics to drive continuous improvement

Skills

Leadership

Agile practices

Communication skills

Team management

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in STEM

Master’s Degree in STEM

PhD in STEM

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Git

Selenium

JUnit/NUnit

CI/CD tools

Jenkins

Job description

Position Overview

The selected Sr. Principal Test Engineer Lead will be part of the TASD Systems Team, overseeing test engineering with a focus on standardization and rigor in the testing process to include program wide standard manual test processes and automated test design, development, and integration where possible. This position will lead the effort to transform several software projects and their associated application suites from an ad-hoc manual test execution to a strategy that relies on rigorous processes, documentation, evidence and automated testing. This position will require flexibility and creative solution development across multiple environments with varying cyber security constraints. The Sr. Principal Test Engineer Lead will support the development and verification of TASD software products across the portfolio, including Threat Modeling and Simulation Software (TMSS), Red‑Force Objective Simulation Environment (ROSE), Missile Defense Advanced Simulation (MDASim), Threat Generator External (TGx), and the Missile Defense Space Tool (MDST). Responsibilities include designing, testing, analyzing, benchmarking, validating and verifying, documenting, automating, and integrating products for all organizations within the TASD program.

Essential Functions

• Leading the test engineers in developing standard processes, test plans, results documentation and recording, and best practices to ensure quality software.
• Leading the definition and implementation of a test automation strategy and roadmap to improve multiple TASD software products automated testing suites.
• Leading the design and implementation of manual and automated regression, integration, and end‑to‑end test suites for client, client–server, and cloud‑based simulation systems.
• Creating or utilizing test tools and harnesses to support manual and automated testing (e.g., scripting, test data setup, environment orchestration) and training other test engineers in their use.
• Supporting agile software teams within the context of a larger program, including embedding automation into CI/CD pipelines and enforcing quality gates.
• Leading the test engineers in efforts to improve product quality through rigorous testing, analysis, automation, and peer review, including identification and reduction of unreliable or inefficient tests.
• Interfacing with TASD customers and stakeholders, preparing and presenting technical briefings on test strategies, plans, status, and results.
• Defining and tracking test and quality metrics (e.g., automation coverage, defect trends, test stability) and using them to drive continuous improvement.

Basic Qualifications

• Basic Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline preferred from an accredited university and 8 years of related experience;
• Basic Qualifications: a Master’s Degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of related experience;
• Basic Qualifications: or a PhD with 4 years of related experience.
• Self-starter with the ability to work both independently and in a team environment.
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills to collaborate effectively with technical teams and customer personnel.
• Familiarity with Agile software development practices.
• Solid understanding of the software development lifecycle and how testing and automation integrate into that lifecycle.
• Hands‑on experience designing, developing, and maintaining test automation, including.
• Experience successfully leading a team of test engineers, including setting priorities, assigning work, and providing technical directions.
• Applicants must have an active in‑scope U.S. Government issued Secret security clearance at time of application, which is required to start.
• Ability for some limited travel (less than 10% time) to support program meetings.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience training or coaching others in development of test automation, such as mentoring manual testers or developers in automation practices and tools.
• Experience with C++, C#, Java, Python, or other modern development languages, including the ability to read and review production code and contribute to test code.
• Experience with automated test frameworks and tools, such as: Unit test frameworks (e.g., JUnit, TestNG, NUnit, xUnit, pytest, or similar).
• Experience with API test frameworks or tools (e.g., REST Assured, Postman/Newman, Karate, or similar).
• Experience with UI/client automation tools (e.g., Selenium WebDriver, Playwright, Cypress, or platform specific desktop UI automation tools).
• Experience in agile software development methodologies including Scrum, Kanban, and Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).
• Experience engineering modeling and simulation (M&S) systems using an optimistic and/or conservative discrete event simulation platform.
• Knowledge or experience in several of the following: missile defense domain knowledge, command and control, and modeling and simulation development.
• Experience designing or operating CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps) that incorporate automated tests and quality gates.
• Experience with Atlassian tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Git (or equivalent work tracking, documentation, and configuration management tools).
• Experience defining and tracking test/quality metrics and using them to influence design, prioritization, and risk management.

Relocation Assistance and Travel

Relocation assistance may be availableCLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: YesCLEARANCE TYPE: SecretTRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Salary and Benefits

Primary Level Salary Range: $117,500.00 - $176,300.00 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.

Equal Opportunity and Citizenship

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

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.