Principal Data Engineer/Sr. Principal Data Engineer

Northrop Grumman; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 114,000 - 213,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Company paid holidays

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems seeks a Principal Data Engineer (or Sr. Principal) to join our Data Science Engineering Team in CA. On-site with Palmdale/El Segundo options, you will drive data architecture, pipelines, and governance for manufacturing data across complex sources.

Applicants should have a strong track record in data engineering, SQL, Python, Airflow, and enterprise data services. A U.S. government clearance is required, with generous compensation and benefits.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher with relevant engineering experience; multiple pathways to Senior levels.
• Experience delivering production data products and data pipelines.
• Ability to obtain and maintain U.S. government security clearance (Secret or higher).

Responsibilities

• Establish data repositories, models, and integration patterns for manufacturing data.
• Define architecture and interfaces for engineering and manufacturing data flows.
• Align data structures across sources with metadata, lineage, and quality controls.
• Design resilient pipelines for manufacturing and enterprise data sources.
• Provide technical direction for greenfield data solutions and communicate with senior leaders.

Skills

SQL

Programming

Data modeling

Data architecture

Data pipelines

Communication to leadership

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a technical field

Master’s degree in a technical field

PhD in a related field

Tools

Python

Microsoft SQL Server

Apache Airflow

Git

CI/CD tools

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be 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 Aeronautics Systems (NGAS) has an opening for a Principal Data Engineer or Sr. Principal Data Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. The position requires on-site support located in Palmdale, CA and can also be filled in El Segundo CA where technology and teamwork come together. The selected candidate will become part of Northrop Grumman’s Data Science Engineering Team working in a collaborative environment while promoting a positive and proactive teamwork environment.

Data Engineering job duties involve the following:

• Establish repositories, data models, and integration patterns for manufacturing data and the technical context required to support digitized processes
• Define the architecture, processes, and interfaces through which engineering and manufacturing teams provide, validate, relate, and maintain contextual data
• Align adjacent and independently managed data structures through authoritative sources, shared identifiers, mappings, semantics, relationships, and traceability
• Design resilient pipelines and data services that integrate manufacturing measurement, equipment, sensor, process, product-location, quality, engineering, and enterprise-system data
• Set technical direction for greenfield manufacturing-data solutions and communicate strategy, alternatives, risks, dependencies, and outcomes to senior leaders and technical stakeholders

Basic Qualifications for: Principal Data Engineer:

• Bachelor’s degree with 4 years of technical and/or engineering experience, or a Master’s degree with 3 years of engineering experience, or PhD with 0 years of experience
• Ability to work 1st shift “5am-3:30pm” or 2nd shift “4:12pm-2:42am” and/or any work schedule (times may vary)
• Advanced experience using SQL, programming or automation, and relational data modeling to deliver production data products, applications, or platforms
• Experience defining and owning data architecture, including repositories, schemas, interfaces, integration patterns, metadata, lineage, data quality, and maintainability
• Demonstrated success delivering greenfield data solutions where platforms, standards, requirements, data contracts, or system endpoints were incomplete or did not exist
• Experience designing pipelines and integration approaches for complex data from multiple independently managed sources
• Experience establishing technical direction for ambiguous data problems and driving alignment across technical and operational stakeholders
• Ability to communicate architecture, performance, risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs to senior managers and technical stakeholders
• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret or Top-Secret Clearance as well as Program Special access within a reasonable period, as determined by the company to meet its business needs
• Ability to work for extended periods of time at a workstation on a computer or similar device for up to 10 hours / duration of shift. Occasional extended periods of standing, bending, kneeling
• Ability to travel at least 10%

Basic Qualifications for: Sr. Principal Data Engineer:

• Bachelor’s degree with 8 years of engineering experience, or a Master’s degree with 6 years of engineering experience, or PhD with 4 years of engineering experience
• Ability to work 1st shift “5am-3:30pm” or 2nd shift “4:12pm-2:42am” and/or any work schedule (times may vary)
• Advanced experience using SQL, programming or automation, and relational data modeling to deliver production data products, applications, or platforms
• Experience defining and owning data architecture, including repositories, schemas, interfaces, integration patterns, metadata, lineage, data quality, and maintainability
• Demonstrated success delivering greenfield data solutions where platforms, standards, requirements, data contracts, or system endpoints were incomplete or did not exist
• Experience designing pipelines and integration approaches for complex data from multiple independently managed sources
• Experience establishing technical direction for ambiguous data problems and driving alignment across technical and operational stakeholders
• Ability to communicate architecture, performance, risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs to senior managers and technical stakeholders
• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret or Top-Secret Clearance as well as Program Special access within a reasonable period, as determined by the company to meet its business needs
• Ability to work for extended periods of time at a workstation on a computer or similar device for up to 10 hours / duration of shift. Occasional extended periods of standing, bending, kneeling
• Ability to travel at least 10%

Preferred Qualifications:

• STEM degree in a related field
• Experience establishing data architecture across manufacturing measurement, equipment, sensor, process, product, quality, engineering, program, and enterprise-system domains
• Experience aligning independently managed structures through authoritative sources, shared identifiers, mappings, semantic models, relationships, stewardship, and traceability
• Experience designing scalable approaches for high-volume, high-frequency, time-dependent, spatial, or otherwise complex technical data
• Experience developing data services, APIs, or application interfaces that allow domain teams to provide and maintain contextual data
• Experience with Python, Microsoft SQL Server, Apache Airflow, Git-based development, automated testing, CI/CD, monitoring, or production operations. Python and Airflow are preferred because they align with the current team and infrastructure, but comparable programming and orchestration experience is acceptable
• Experience incorporating relevant information from engineering documents, work instructions, or other unstructured technical sources without making document parsing the primary solution focus.
• Experience leading architecture reviews, mentoring technical contributors, and raising data-engineering maturity across an organization
• Experience partnering with enterprise organizations while independently defining and advancing local manufacturing-data needs when enterprise support or platforms are immature
• Active U.S. Government Secret or higher security clearance

Primary Level Salary Range: $114,000.00 - $171,000.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $142,200.00 - $213,400.00

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.