Principal/ Sr Principal Software Signal Processing Engineer

0090 CORP-Corporate Office; United States; On-site; USD 103,600 - 193,900; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Clearance required (Secret)

Travel 10%

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Space Systems seeks a Principal or Senior Principal Software Signal Processing Engineer to join the DARC program in Colorado Springs, CO. You will develop radar DSP software for object identification and tracking in geosynchronous orbit, collaborating with hardware teams.

Requirements include DoD Secret clearance, strong C++, Java, Python, CUDA, Linux, and RF signal processing expertise. Relocation assistance and travel are supported; U.S. citizenship is required.

Qualifications

• 5 years with a Bachelors in Science, 3 years with a Masters in Science degree, and 1 year with a PhD
• Active DoD Secret clearance at the time of application.
• Experience with C++, Java, Python, and CUDA.
• Experience with Linux.
• Experience with RF signal processing.
• Experience with GPU optimization.
• Experience with the NVIDIA MatX library.
• Experience with AI tooling.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, document, test, and debug application software and systems that contain logical and mathematical solutions.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers in planning, design, development, and utilization of electronic data processing systems.
• Analyze user needs and system capabilities to resolve problems and design operating systems and compilers.
• Develop and optimize radar signal processing algorithms and pipelines (DSP).
• Implement GPU acceleration (CUDA) for performance‑critical workloads.
• Use AI tooling to accelerate development tasks while maintaining code accountability.

Skills

C++

Java

Python

CUDA

Linux

RF signal processing

GPU optimization

NVIDIA MatX library

AI tooling

high‑side development

Education

B.S. in Science

M.S. in Science

PhD

Tools

NVIDIA MatX

cuFFT/cuSignal

Job description

Relocation & Clearance

Relocation assistance may be available.

Clearance required for start: Yes (Secret). Travel: Yes, 10% of the time.

Job Overview

Northrop Grumman Space Systems is seeking a Principal Software Signal Processing Engineer level or a Senior Principal Software Signal Processing Engineer level to join our team supporting the DARC program. The position will be based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and will work on the Deep Space Advanced Capabilities contract developing radar digital signal processing software to support identification and tracking of objects in geosynchronous orbit.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, document, test, and debug application software and systems that contain logical and mathematical solutions.
• Conduct multidisciplinary research and collaborate with equipment designers and/or hardware engineers in the planning, design, development, and utilization of electronic data processing systems for product and commercial software.
• Determine computer user needs; analyze system capabilities to resolve problems on program intent, output requirements, input data acquisition, programming techniques, and controls; prepare operating instructions; design and develop compilers and assemblers, utility programs, and operating systems.
• Develop and optimize radar signal processing algorithms and pipelines (DSP), including use of common engineering toolchains such as DSP System Toolbox, Signal Processing Toolbox, and Phased Array System toolsets.
• Implement GPGPU acceleration (e.g., CUDA) for performance‑critical signal processing and/or analytics workloads.
• Use AI‑enabled engineering tooling (e.g., an AI coding assistant) to accelerate development tasks such as code explanation, refactoring, and test generation, while maintaining engineer accountability for reviewed code.

Basic Qualifications – Principal Software Signal Processing Engineer

• 5 years with a Bachelors in Science, 3 years with a Masters in Science degree, and 1 year with a PhD Active DoD Secret clearance at the time of application.
• Experience with C++, Java, Python, and CUDA.
• Experience with Linux.
• Experience with RF signal processing.
• Experience with GPU optimization.
• Experience with the NVIDIA MatX library.
• Experience with AI tooling.
• Experience with high‑side development and processes.

Basic Qualifications – Senior Principal Software Signal Processing Engineer

• 8 years with a Bachelors in Science, 6 years with a Masters in Science degree, and 3 years with a PhD Active DoD Secret clearance at the time of application.
• Experience with C++, Java, Python, and CUDA.
• Experience with Linux.
• Experience with RF signal processing.
• Experience with GPU optimization.
• Experience with the NVIDIA MatX library.
• Experience with AI tooling.
• Experience with high‑side development and processes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Radar knowledge.
• Ability to explain how to process a radar signal to generate a Range Doppler Map.
• Ability to describe the process of using a sparse array to accomplish beamforming.
• Understanding of loss budgets and system trade‑offs.
• Understanding of calibration application for a distributed system.
• Strong C++ knowledge, including modern C++ techniques.
• Knowledge of real‑time processing and current C++ standards.
• Understanding of benefits and constraints of running signal processing code on GPGPUs.
• Familiarity with cuFFT and/or cuSignal; Matx is preferred.
• Functional familiarity with MATLAB and Python.
• Self‑starter who can take minimal direction and work independently.
• Experience writing and implementing signal processing algorithms.

Salary Range

Primary Level: $103,600 – $155,400.

Secondary Level: $129,300 – $193,900.

Benefits

Employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and discretionary bonuses in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses reward individual contributions and company results. Eligible positions may receive long‑term incentives. Health insurance, life and disability insurance, a savings plan, company‑paid holidays, and paid time off for vacation or personal business are also provided.

EEO Statement

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.