Software System Engineer (Level 4) - AHT

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

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental & Vision coverage

401k

Educational Assistance

Life Insurance

Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Li

Paid Time Off

Health & Wellness Resources

Employee Discounts

Flexible Schedules

Job summary

Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector seeks a Software System Engineer (Level 4) to join our Redondo Beach team. The role combines software development, systems engineering, and Scrum Master duties to deliver containerized solutions for space mission planning.

Responsibilities include integrating Kafka streams, building cloud-native services, and ensuring robust testing, security, and performance across distributed systems. Requires TS clearance and strong Java/Python/C++ skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline with 8+ years of software engineering experience, or a Master’s with 6+ years, or a Ph.D. with 4+ years.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance or ability to obtain Special Program Access.
• Strong programming skills in Java, Python, or C++ (read and debug others).
• Experience designing containerized apps (e.g., Docker) for private cloud deployments.
• Experience with Kubernetes, OpenShift, or similar.
• Experience integrating with Kafka or other distributed messaging platforms.
• Proficiency with Linux and shell scripting.
• Experience with build tools (Maven/Gradle, CMake).
• Experience in distributed systems or cloud-native engineering.
• Experience in creating ICDs, requirements, and architecture diagrams.

Responsibilities

• Perform software development, systems engineering, and occasional Scrum Master duties.
• Design, implement, and integrate containerized software for space mission planning.
• Integrate services with Kafka-based data streams for reliability and scalability.
• Collaborate with systems engineers to translate requirements into software solutions.
• Develop and maintain cloud-deployed services with monitoring and logging.
• Drive quality through unit tests, code reviews, and test automation.
• Troubleshoot issues across application, container, and cloud layers.
• Apply secure coding practices and cloud security concepts.

Skills

Java

Python

C++

Docker

Kubernetes

Apache Kafka

Linux

Shell scripting

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Master's degree in STEM

Tools

Maven/Gradle

CMake

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 System 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 System Engineer (Level 4) include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Perform a combination of tasks including software development, systems engineering, and occasional Scrum Master duties.


• 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.


• Drive software quality through unit and integration testing, code reviews, test automation, and the use of test frameworks (e.g., JUnit, pytest, GoogleTest, TestComplete).


• Troubleshoot and resolve issues across application, container, and cloud layers.


• Apply a solid understanding of distributed systems concepts, including scalability, resiliency, fault tolerance, and observability.


• Apply secure coding practices and basic cloud security concepts (authentication/authorization, secrets management, TLS).


• Use source control and branching strategies (Git, Git workflows).


• 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, Python, or C++; ability to read and debug the others is a plus.


• Hands-on experience designing and developing containerized applications (e.g., Docker) for deployment to a private cloud environment.


• Experience with container orchestration platforms (preferably Kubernetes, OpenShift, or similar).


• Practical experience integrating applications with Apache Kafka or other distributed messaging/streaming platforms (producers, consumers, topics, partitions, consumer groups).


• Proficiency with Linux environments and shell scripting.


• Experience with build tools (e.g., Maven/Gradle for Java, CMake for C++, or equivalent).


• Experience in systems engineering for distributed systems or cloud-native applications.


• Experience developing and maintaining system requirements, interface control documents (ICDs), and architecture diagrams for distributed/cloud systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with mission-critical or real-time systems, ideally in space mission planning domains.


• Experience building RESTful APIs and/or microservices that integrate with backend data sources.


• Experience integrating containerized applications with internal enterprise systems (e.g., databases, identity services, monitoring, logging).


• Experience designing event-driven architectures and messaging flows using Kafka or equivalent event streaming platforms (e.g., Kafka Streams, NATS, ActiveMQ), including schema design, message contracts, error handling, replay patterns, and 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).


• Experience with performance profiling and optimization for Java, Python, or C++ services.


• Knowledge of software design patterns and modern architectural practices.


• Experience working in multi-disciplinary engineering teams supporting large system integrations.


• Experience developing clean, secure code (e.g., Sonar scans, unit tests, code coverage, Fortify).


• 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.

Working at Northrop Grumman is more than just a paycheck. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive at work and in life. For more information on our Total Rewards package, please visit our Total Rewards site: Northrop Grumman Total Rewards.

• 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.

#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.

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.