Software Segment Lead – Staff Software Engineer

Northrop Grumman Corp. (AU); San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 177,000 - 265,600; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Holidays and PTO

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Corp. (AU) is seeking a senior data solutions lead to mature data platforms for multiple programs. You will own data acquisition, processing, storage, and dissemination, shaping enterprise strategy and guiding analytics value opportunities.

The role requires coordinating cross‑functional teams and ensuring solutions meet mission needs with strong architectural oversight. Active Top Secret clearance is required, with SAP access possible.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in STEM with 12 years of related experience; or Master’s with 10 years; or PhD with 8 years.
• Technical project lead and Product Owner accountable for outcomes.
• Experience with data acquisition, storage, processing, analysis, and big‑data challenges.
• Ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret clearance and SAP access.

Responsibilities

• Provide collaborative technical leadership to mature data solutions across programs and units.
• Serve as SME for data acquisition, harmonization, processing, storage, and dissemination.
• Translate raw sensor/telemetry into actionable information for mission decisions.
• Lead architecture for off‑site storage and extensible data dissemination.
• Define enterprise strategy and expand mission sets; align with roadmaps.
• Advise leadership on analytics value opportunities and ROI.
• Collaborate with end‑user teams to meet real‑world needs and feedback.
• Own requirements, design, and reach‑back support; drive feature completion.
• Backlog decomposition, prioritization, and Definition of Done governance.
• Foster knowledge sharing across data disciplines and governance of standards.

Skills

Data architecture

Data analysis

Big data

Project leadership

Product Owner

Cross-functional teamwork

Job description

Relocation Assistance

Relocation assistance may be available.

Clearance Required for Start

Yes – Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance (with a background investigation within the past 5 years or enrolled into Continuous Evaluation) is required.

Travel

Yes, up to 25% of the time.

Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees work on revolutionary systems that impact lives worldwide. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity, and a drive to do what others think is impossible. We look for people with bold ideas, courage, and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Provide collaborative technical leadership that drives the maturation and evolution of data solutions across a portfolio of programs, contracts, and operating units, even when requirements conflict.
• Act as the Subject Matter Expert for all aspects of data acquisition, harmonization, processing, storage, analysis, and dissemination across diverse data formats, technologies, and network/distribution protocols.
• Translate raw sensor and telemetry feeds into actionable information that supports mission-critical decision making.
• Provide technical leadership and serve as the lead architect for all phases of the product lifecycle, with an immediate focus on developing off-site storage and extensible data dissemination solutions.
• Define enterprise-level strategy and support expansion of the mission set, emphasizing the conversion of raw data into actionable information.
• Advise senior leadership on analytics value opportunities and roadmap alignment.
• Collaborate with end‑user and customer teams to ensure solutions meet real‑world needs and incorporate direct feedback.
• Lead technical execution of capabilities and products, owning requirements, design, and serving as the primary point of contact for reach‑back support.
• Support risk mitigation and proactively generate opportunity‑driven enhancements.
• Decompose the solution backlog, prioritize epics and user stories, act as the approval authority for feature completion, and define the Definition of Done.
• Facilitate knowledge share and management activities across data acquisition, analysis, and dissemination disciplines.
• Develop and govern data standards to ensure consistency, quality, and interoperability across the organization.

The selected candidate will be required to work full‑time, on‑site at our facility. Remote or hybrid work is not available for this position.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM discipline and 12 years of related engineering experience; OR Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 10 years of related engineering experience; OR PhD in a STEM discipline and 8 years of related engineering experience.
• Demonstrated experience as a technical project lead and Product Owner accountable to the outcome of the solutions developed.
• Demonstrated understanding of communications technology, data acquisition, storage, processing, and analysis technologies, including big‑data challenges and solutions.
• General understanding of network protocols and data dissemination strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to stay abreast of developments at the intersection of data science and technology.
• Experience engaging cross‑functional teams to build a strong data infrastructure.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance (background investigation within the past 5 years or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation).
• Ability to obtain and maintain initial Special Access Program (SAP) access via a Program Access Request (PAR). This SAP/PAR must be obtained prior to commencement and within a reasonable amount of time as determined by the company.
• Ability to obtain and maintain subsequent SAP PARs following commencement to support the complete statement of work.

Preferred Qualifications

• Current Program Access to applicable program.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret SCI clearance (background investigation within the past 5 years or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation).
• Skilled at defining, motivating, and driving change across multiple contracts/business areas with a dual focus on supporting the end‑user mission and ensuring business value.
• Advanced technical knowledge of data science and data architecture.
• Proven understanding of statistics, structured and unstructured data analysis, predictive modeling techniques, and data visualization, as well as command of emerging methodologies like Artificial Intelligence.
• Recognized experience as a thought leader and innovator in the development of new tools, methodologies, and problem‑solving approaches.

Benefits

Primary Level Salary Range: $177,000 – $265,600.

Employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and discretionary bonuses in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses reward individual contributions and allow employees to share in company results. Vice President and Director levels may qualify for long‑term incentives.

Additional benefits include health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, a savings plan, company‑paid holidays, and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and personal business.

EEO Statement

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer and makes 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, visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain restricted positions.