Principal Engineer Data

Northrop Grumman; El Segundo (CA); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is seeking a Principal Data Engineer with AI experience to join our onsite team in El Segundo, CA. The role focuses on designing an ecosystem of data systems, pipelines, and dashboards, with strict governance and security requirements.

You will lead cross-functional teams, mentor engineers, and collaborate with product and data stakeholders to deliver production AI/ML solutions and insightful analytics across the enterprise.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in STEM with 5+ years of experience, or Master’s with 3+ years, or PhD with 1+ year.
• Experience with Python, GIT, SQL, DataBricks, Tableau, Azure, PyTorch, scikit-learn, OpenCV.
• Experience with data architecture, data models, integration strategies for operational and analytical systems.
• Active US Government secret clearance and ability to obtain special program access.

Responsibilities

• Lead designs, mentor engineers, drive cross-team alignment.
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable data pipelines and ETL processes.
• Build and optimize data models for analytics and reporting.
• Implement data quality, validation, and monitoring frameworks.
• Collaborate with data scientists and product managers to translate requirements.
• Develop reusable analytics code libraries for self-service analytics.
• Evaluate new data technologies and improve the analytics stack.
• Ensure data governance, security, and privacy compliance.
• Develop and maintain Tableau dashboards and ad-hoc querying tools.
• Provide technical leadership through design reviews and mentoring.

Skills

Python

GIT

SQL

Tableau

Power BI

Azure

Pytorch

DataBricks

OpenAI/AI models

AI/ML engineering

Education

B.S./M.S./Ph.D. in STEM

Tools

Tableau

Power BI

SQL Server

DataBricks

Dagster

OpenCV

pytorch

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.

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 is seeking a Principal Data Engineer with AI Experience to join our onsite team in El Segundo, California .

A hybrid work arrangement may be considered for this position.

We are looking for a passionate Principal Data Engineer to design and develop an ecosystem of interconnected business systems, virtualized data pipelines, data catalogs, and end-user consumable data products. We are seeking self-motivated individuals who have a thirst for knowledge, a relentless drive to solve complex problems, and proven experience collaborating in cross functional teams.

Job Responsibilities

• Demonstrated technical leadership (leading designs, mentoring engineers, driving cross-team technical alignment).
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable data pipelines and ETL(Extract, Transform, Load) processes across multiple data sources.
• Build and optimize data models for analytics and reporting
• Implement robust data quality, validation, and monitoring frameworks to ensure reliability of downstream insights.
• Collaborate with data scientists, product managers, and business stakeholders to translate analytical requirements into technical specifications.
• Create reusable, documented analytics code libraries to accelerate self‑service analytics.
• Evaluate emerging data technologies and recommend improvements to the analytics stack.
• Ensure compliance with data governance, security, and privacy policies.
• Develop and maintain Tableau dashboards, , and ad‑hoc querying tools for customers and stakeholders.
• Provide technical leadership through design reviews, prototyping, code contributions, and mentoring while aligning roadmaps across teams.
• Partner with product, platform, data, security, and compliance to establish responsible AI practices, model governance and predictive modeling
• Applied AI/ML engineering experience delivering models to production (classical ML and/or deep learning, including LLM-enabled solutions).
• Experience integrating AI/ML capabilities into enterprise software systems (APIs/services, data pipelines, and production deployment patterns).
• Experience working in regulated environments with strong emphasis on security, data handling, and governance expectations for AI use.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) field with at least 5 years of experience OR Master's Degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) field with at least 3 years of experience OR PhD Degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) field with at least 1 years of experience
• Experience with Python, GIT, Command Line, SQL Servers, DataBricks, Oracle databases, Dagster, Tableau, Microsoft Excel, Visual Studio, FastAPI, Azure, SQL Alchemy, pytorch, scikit-learn, pillow, OpenCV and torchvision
• Experience with data architecture, data models, physical database designs, data integration strategy and design for operational systems, systems integration, and analytical systems
• Experience with SQL Server and proficiency in data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, etc.)
• Active US Government secret clearance and with the ability to obtain special program access

Preferred Qualificatio