Software System Engineer (Level 4) - AHT

0090 CORP-Corporate Office; United States; On-site; USD 142,000 - 213,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental & Vision

401k

Educational Assistance

Life Insurance

Employee Assistance Programs

Paid Time Off

Flexible Schedules

Job summary

Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, CA, seeks a Software System Engineer (Level 4) to join the Western Region Software Engineering directorate on site. The role requires an active Top Secret clearance and involves software development, systems engineering, and containerized workloads.

The position emphasizes distributed systems, cloud services, and mission planning integrations with Kafka streams. You’ll collaborate with engineers and apply secure coding practices in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline with 8+ years of software experience, or advanced degree with fewer years.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance required at application time.
• Strong programming skills in Java, Python, or C++; others read/debug are a plus.
• Hands-on containerized apps experience (Docker) for private cloud deployment.
• Experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes/OpenShift).
• Experience integrating with Apache Kafka and distributed messaging systems.
• Proficiency with Linux environments and shell scripting.
• Experience with build tools (Maven/Gradle for Java, CMake for C++).
• Experience in distributed Cloud-native systems and architecture documentation.

Responsibilities

• Perform software development, systems engineering, and occasional Scrum Master duties.
• Design, implement, and integrate containerized components for space mission planning.
• Integrate mission planning services with Kafka-based data streams for reliability.
• Collaborate with systems engineers to translate requirements into robust software.
• Implement and maintain cloud-deployed services with monitoring and logging.
• Drive quality with unit/integration tests, code reviews, and test automation.
• Troubleshoot across application, container, and cloud layers; ensure security basics.
• Use Git and current branching strategies; communicate findings effectively.

Skills

Java/Python/C++

Docker

Kubernetes/OpenShift

Kafka

Linux/Shell scripting

Maven/Gradle/CMake

Distributed/cloud systems

REST APIs / Microservices

Git workflows

Education

Bachelor’s degree in STEM

Master’s degree in STEM

Ph.D. in STEM

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenShift

Kafka

Git

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.

As a full‑time employee of Northrop Grumman, you are eligible for:

• -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 #LI-DB1

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.

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We are a pioneering company. With careers across all areas: air, cyber, land, sea and space – our 90,000 employees work as one to defend and define the future. Northrop Grumman careers and internships are as varied as your interests, with a lifetime of potential that will give you every opportunity to do your best work. Working together with people from many backgrounds, personal passions and disciplines, we share a drive to push the boundaries of science, technology and engineering to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide.