Sr Principal Engineer Software

Northrop Grumman; Colorado Springs (CO); On-site; USD 129,000 - 194,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Company paid holidays and PTO

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Space Systems is seeking a Sr. Principal Software Engineer to support a program developing and fielding a new ground-based radar for Space Domain Awareness.

You will contribute to the design, implementation, integration, and sustainment of software supporting mission execution, system control, data processing, and radar sustainment. The ideal candidate will have a strong software engineering foundation and apply systems engineering to define, develop, test, debug, and document

Qualifications

• Experience developing software in Java and building services/microservices.
• Proficient with containerization (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes).
• Experience with RESTful APIs, CI/CD (GitLab), and Linux environments.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to design, implementation, integration, and sustainment of software for mission-critical radar systems.
• Document software solutions and collaborate with systems engineers across the program.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Docker

Kubernetes

GitLab CI/CD

Linux

REST APIs

JUnit/Mockito

SQL

Debugging tools

Communication

Security clearance

Agile/Scrum

C/C++ integration

Education

B.S. in Science

M.S. in Science

Ph.D.

Tools

Cloud platforms

Kafka

Terraform

Prometheus

Grafana

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: 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 Space Systems is seeking a Sr. Principal Software Engineer to support a program developing and fielding a new ground-based radar performing Space Domain Awareness (SDA) missions. You will be a key member of the technical team and will contribute to the design, implementation, integration, and sustainment of software supporting mission execution, system control, data processing, and long‑term sustainment of the radar system.

The ideal candidate will have a strong foundational knowledge of software engineering and be able to collaboratively apply systems engineering principles to define, develop, test, debug, and document software solutions across the program.

This position can be based at our work locations in Colorado Springs, CO or Bellevue, Nebraska.

Basic Qualifications:

• Experience developing software in Java
• Experience building services or microservices using Spring Boot
• Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker or Podman
• Experience with Kubernetes for container orchestration and deployment
• Experience with GitLab and CI/CD pipelines for automated build, test, and deployment
• Experience developing software in a Linux environment
• Experience with RESTful APIs and JSON‑based interfaces
• Experience with unit testing and integration testing (e.g., JUnit, Mockito)
• Familiarity with relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) and basic SQL
• Experience using debugging tools and techniques for Java and Linux (e.g., IDE debuggers, jstack, jmap, strace, gdb, log‑based debugging)
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Must have an active U.S. Government Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope
• 8 years with a Bachelors in Science, 6 years with a Masters in Science degree, and 3 years with the PHD. 4 additional years required in lieu of a degree

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with cloud‑native or on‑premise distributed systems
• Experience designing and implementing microservice architectures
• Experience with message‑based or streaming systems (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ)
• Experience with API gateways and service discovery mechanisms
• Experience with infrastructure‑as‑code tools (e.g., Ansible, Terraform, Helm)
• Experience with monitoring, logging, and observability for containerized applications (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/EFK stack)
• Experience performing root‑cause analysis in distributed systems using logs, traces, and metrics
• Experience with profiling and performance tuning of Java applications (e.g., VisualVM, JFR, JMC, async profilers)
• Experience implementing robust logging and error‑handling strategies to support production debugging
• Experience with secure coding practices and basic understanding of cybersecurity principles
• Experience with Agile/Scrum software development methodologies
• Experience integrating with C/C++ or other languages in mixed‑technology systems
• Experience working on real‑time or mission‑critical systems, such as radar, command and control, or other defense‑related applications
• Familiarity with DevSecOps practices and automated security/scanning in CI/CD (e.g., SAST/DAST tools)

Primary Level Salary Range: $129,300.00 - $193,900.00

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.