Lead Test Automation Engineer - Level 4

Northrop Grumman; Colorado Springs (CO); On-site; USD 118,000 - 176,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off (PTO)

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Company paid holidays

Job summary

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Senior Principal Test Engineer Lead to drive automated testing across TASD software portfolios, including TMSS, ROSE, MDASim, TGx, and MDST. The role is based onsite at Schriever Space Force Base and Colorado Springs, CO, requiring a Secret clearance.

You will transform multiple software projects from manual to automated testing, lead a team of test engineers, and collaborate with agile teams to embed automation in CI/CD pipelines while delivering measurable quality

Qualifications

• 8 years of related experience with a STEM degree.
• Ability to obtain/maintain active US secret clearance.
• Strong written and verbal communication within technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the test automation strategy and roadmap for TASD software.
• Design and implement automated regression, integration, and end-to-end tests.
• Develop tools and harnesses to support automation and train others.
• Embed automation into CI/CD pipelines and enforce quality gates.
• Interface with TASD customers and present test strategies and results.
• Define and track test/quality metrics to drive improvements.

Skills

Test automation

Software testing

Leadership

CI/CD

Agile

Communication

Mentoring

Security clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Master's degree in STEM

PhD in STEM

Tools

JUnit

Selenium

Postman/Newman

REST Assured

Git

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: 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 Space Systems, Multi-Domain Operations, and Missile Defense Integration Business Unit (BU) has an exciting career opportunity for a Test Engineer Lead – Test Automation (Level 4) to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position supports the Modeling and Simulation Vistas – Threat and Advanced Simulations Development (MSV‑TASD) program and will split time between Schriever Space Force Base (SSFB) and the Northrop Grumman facility in Colorado Springs, CO.

This role requires candidates to be onsite daily with very limited remote/hybrid work available.

Position Overview

The selected Senior Principal Test Engineer Lead will be part of the TASD Systems Team, overseeing test engineering with a primary focus on automated test design, development, and integration. This position will lead the effort to transform several software projects and their associated application suites from primarily manual test execution to a strategy that relies predominantly on automated testing.

The 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 definition and implementation of a test automation strategy and roadmap to transition multiple TASD software products from manual to automated testing.
• Creating, selecting, and/or integrating test automation frameworks and tools for unit, API/service, and UI/client‑level testing, and defining standards for their use across teams.
• Leading the design and implementation of 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 test automation (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.
• Supporting the development of simulation and software architectures, including coaching software teams on building testable and test‑friendly applications (e.g., appropriate interfaces, test hooks, logging, and observability).
• Leading the test engineering team 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.

The selected candidate should thrive in a fast‑paced work environment with high expectations, significantly diverse assignments, and collaborative team settings across all levels.

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; a Master’s Degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of related experience; 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 with at least one automated testing framework (e.g., unit, API, or UI).
  • Experience building automated regression suites and integrating them into build or CI pipelines.
• Experience successfully leading a team of test engineers, including setting priorities, assigning work, and providing technical direction.
• Experience training or coaching others in development of test automation, such as mentoring manual testers or developers in automation practices and tools.
• Ability to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Government issued secret security clearance, a minimum of an interim secret clearance will be required to start.

Preferred Qualifications

• 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).
  • API test frameworks or tools (e.g., REST Assured, Postman/Newman, Karate, or similar).
  • 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.

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.

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.