Software Engineer (Level 4) - AHT

Northrop Grumman; Redondo Beach (CA); On-site; USD 142,000 - 213,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

401k

Educational assistance

Life insurance

Paid Time Off

Flexible schedules

Employee discounts

Job summary

Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, CA, seeks a Software Engineer (Level 4) to join our Space Sector. You will work on mission planning systems, containerized components, and cloud services in an agile setup with cross-functional teams.

Required are an active TS clearance and 8+ years in software engineering (or 6+ with a related master's, or 4+ with a PhD). Proficiency in Java or Python, Docker, Kafka, REST APIs, and Linux is expected. Occasional travel and site work apply.

Qualifications

• Active Top Secret clearance is required to apply.
• Strong programming skills in Java or Python.
• Experience containerizing apps for private cloud deployment.
• Experience with Kafka or similar messaging platforms.
• Experience building RESTful APIs and microservices.
• Proficiency in Linux and shell scripting.
• Familiarity with Maven/Gradle and Git workflows.
• Understanding secure coding and cloud security basics.

Responsibilities

• Contribute in an agile environment with cross-functional teams.
• Design, implement, and containerize software components.
• Integrate mission planning services with Kafka data streams.
• Develop cloud-deployed services with monitoring and logging.
• Participate in code reviews and test automation efforts.
• Troubleshoot issues across app, container, and cloud layers.

Skills

Java

Python

Docker

Kafka

REST APIs

Git

Kubernetes/OpenShift

Linux

CI/CD

Distributed systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Master's degree in STEM

Ph.D. in STEM

Tools

Docker

Kafka

Git

Maven/Gradle

CMake

Kubernetes/OpenShift

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Top 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’s Space Sector is seeking a Software Engineer (Level 4) to join our team of highly qualified, diverse professionals within the Western Region Software Engineering directorate. This position is located onsite in Redondo Beach, CA.

• Please be aware that this position is contingent upon capturing program award(s) and obtaining and maintaining associated business and/or customer funding. Furthermore, this position is contingent upon the candidate obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company. Continued employment thereafter will be subject to maintenance at the level of clearance and program access required for the position in the future.

Job responsibilities of the Software Engineer (Level 4) include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Work in an agile or iterative development environment and collaborate with cross-functional teams (systems engineers, DevOps, test, data engineers).
• Maintain a strong focus on software quality, including unit testing, integration testing, code reviews, and use of test frameworks (e.g., JUnit, pytest, GoogleTest, TestComplete).
• Design, implement, and integrate containerized software components for a space mission planning system.
• Integrate mission planning services with Kafka-based backend data streams, ensuring reliability and scalability.
• Collaborate with systems engineers to understand mission planning requirements and translate them into robust software solutions.
• Implement and maintain cloud-deployed services, including monitoring, logging, and alerting.
• Participate in code reviews, test automation efforts, and continuous improvement of development and integration practices.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues across application, container, and cloud layers.
• Demonstrate strong problem-solving, debugging, and communication skills.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline with 8+ years of software engineering experience, or a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline with 6+ years of experience, or a Ph.D. in a STEM discipline with 4+ years of relevant experience.
• Must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance at the time of application, with the ability to obtain Special Program Access within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company.
• Strong programming skills in at least one of the following: Java or Python.
• Hands-on experience designing and developing containerized applications (e.g., Docker) for deployment to a private cloud environment.
• Practical experience integrating applications with Apache Kafka or other distributed messaging/streaming platforms (producers, consumers, topics, partitions, consumer groups).
• Experience building RESTful APIs and/or microservices that integrate with backend data sources.
• Proficiency with Linux environments and shell scripting.
• Experience with build tools (e.g., Maven/Gradle for Java, CMake for C++, or equivalent).
• Familiarity with source control and branching strategies (Git, Git workflows).
• Understanding of secure coding practices and basic cloud security concepts (authentication/authorization, secrets management, TLS).

Preferred Qualifications

• Active U.S. Government Top Secret/SCI clearance.
• Experience with mission-critical or real-time systems, ideally in space mission planning domains.
• Experience designing event-driven architectures using Kafka (schema design, message contracts, error handling, replay patterns, stream processing).
• Hands‑on experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, GCP) or an equivalent internal cloud platform (networking, storage, IAM, logging, monitoring).
• Background in microservices architecture and patterns (service discovery, configuration management, circuit breakers, API gateways).
• Exposure to data streaming/processing frameworks (Kafka Streams, NATS, ActiveMQ, or similar).
• Knowledge of software design patterns and modern architectural practices.
• Experience working in multidisciplinary engineering teams supporting large system integrations.
• Experience developing clean, secure code (e.g., Sonar scans, unit tests, code coverage, Fortify).
• Experience with container orchestration platforms (preferably Kubernetes, OpenShift, or similar).
• Please be aware that this position is contingent upon capturing program award(s) and obtaining and maintaining associated business and/or customer funding. Furthermore, this position is contingent upon the candidate obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company. Continued employment thereafter will be subject to maintenance at the level of clearance and program access required for the position in the future.

#LosAngelesSpace

Primary 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.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
• 401k
• Educational Assistance
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions
• Paid Time Off
• Health & Wellness Resources
• Employee Discounts
• Flexible Schedules: for example, the ability to work a 9/80 work schedule, which allows an employee to work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday and take every other Friday off of work.

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.