Staff Engineer Data

Northrop Grumman; New York (NY); On-site; USD 169,000 - 254,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

Health insurance

401k matching

Job summary

Northrop Grumman is seeking a senior data architect to lead the sector data strategy and reference architecture across multiple domains including manufacturing and supply chain. You will design governed data models, establish data contracts, and drive data quality practices in secure environments.

The role collaborates with AI architects to ground RAG workflows in authoritative data, while aligning with platform constraints and governance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with 10+ years (Bachelor) or 8+ years (Master) in relevant fields.
• Requires ability to obtain U.S. Government Secret clearance and SAP/SAR clearance.
• Experience in data architecture, enterprise data modeling, and data platform engineering across multiple domains.
• Hands-on with governed data models, contracts, SQL, and schema design.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the MS sector data strategy and reference architecture.
• Develop scalable data ingestion, normalization, enrichment, and publication frameworks.
• Design governed data models for manufacturing, quality/QN, supply chain, and engineering.
• Lead data quality management, metadata adoption, lineage mapping, and auditability.

Skills

Data architecture

Data modeling

SQL

ETL/ELT

APIs

CI/CD

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems

Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems

Tools

Palantir Foundry

Docker

Kubernetes

ERP/SAP integration

Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No

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.

At the heart of Defining Possible is our commitment to missions. In rapidly changing global security environments, Northrop Grumman brings informed insights and secure technological solutions to enable strategic objectives. We’re looking for innovators who can help us keep building on our wide portfolio of secure, affordable, integrated, and multi-domain systems and technologies that fuel those missions. By joining in our shared mission, we will support yours of expanding your personal network and developing skills, whether you are new to the field or an industry thought leader. At Northrop Grumman, you will have the resources, support, and team to do some of the best work of your career.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the MS sector data strategy and reference architecture, aligning with enterprise standards and tools (e.g., canonical ontologies, ERP/SAP integration, M365, Palantir Foundry).


• Establish repeatable, scalable frameworks for data ingestion, normalization, enrichment, and publication; create reusable patterns and data contracts (APIs, schemas).


• Design governed data models for key domains (manufacturing, quality/QN, supply chain, engineering) and prevent shadow ontologies by grounding models in the authoritative enterprise ontology.


• Lead data quality management (DQ rules, profiling, remediation), metadata/catalog adoption, lineage mapping, and auditability; define policies for citation and source traceability in AI use.


• Architect secure data pipelines and storage across sovereign, classified, and disconnected environments; implement observability, reliability, and lifecycle management.


• Partner with the AI Architect to ground Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) and agent workflows in authoritative sector data; ensure data readiness, freshness, and guardrails for AI/ML.


• Collaborate with the Systems Architect to align solution designs with platform constraints and delivery patterns; provide architecture decision records (ADRs) and design reviews.


• Meet with program customers and functional stakeholders to capture requirements, evaluate solution paths, and recommend approaches that balance speed, governance, and maintainability.


• Define and socialize data policies (access, stewardship, retention, classification) and operating processes (intake, review, approval) to scale adoption across programs.


• Establish KPIs and ROI metrics (data quality, timeliness, reuse, cycle‑time impact) and drive continuous improvement; create playbooks and templates for rapid onboarding.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems and 12+ years of experience, or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems and 10+ years of experience.


• The selected candidate will be required to obtain a U.S. Government Secret level security clearance and a Special Access Program (SAP/SAR) clearance; maintaining the required clearances will be a condition of continued employment.

The selected candidate will be required to obtain a U.S. Government Secret level security clearance and a Special Access Program (SAP/SAR) clearance; maintaining the required clearances will be a condition of continued employment.

• Experience in data architecture, enterprise data modeling, and data platform engineering across multiple domains.


• Hands‑on experience designing governed data models and contracts, strong SQL and schema design, and a familiarity with event streaming and batch ETL/ELT.


• Experience with metadata/catalog tools, lineage mapping, and data quality management, and an ability to operationalize policies at scale.


• Containerization/orchestration experience (Docker/Kubernetes), CI/CD for data pipelines, and secure software supply chain practices.


• Experience implementing data solutions in sovereign/classified or air‑gapped environments, and an understanding of auditing, logging, and compliance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Palantir Foundry ontology and analytics pipelines, and an ability to align sector data models to canonical enterprise structures.


• Manufacturing and quality/QN analytics domain experience (shop‑floor data, SPC, defect/QN processes, root‑cause/corrective action).


• Familiarity with ERP/SAP integration patterns, MES/PLM/ERP data domains, and cross‑system data harmonization.


• Experience establishing sector‑wide data standards, stewardship models, and governance councils.


• Exposure to supporting AI/ML workloads (feature stores, RAG grounding, data readiness) and measurement of model/data ROI.

We offer flexible work arrangements, phenomenal learning opportunities, exposure to a wide variety of projects and customers, and a very friendly team environment. At Northrop Grumman, we are on the cutting edge of innovation. Our diverse portfolio of programs means there are endless paths to cultivate your career. We also offer exceptional benefits/healthcare, a 9/80 work schedule, and a great 401k matching program. Come join us!

Primary Level Salary Range: $169,000.00 - $253,600.00

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.