Staff Software Lead/Architect – Space Mission Platform

Northrop Grumman; Redondo Beach (CA); On-site; USD 177,000 - 266,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental & Vision coverage

401k

Educational Assistance

Life Insurance

Paid Time Off

Flexible work options

Job summary

Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, CA, is seeking a Staff Software Lead/Architect (Level 5) to guide architecture, design, and roadmaps for a containerized, cloud-deployed mission planning system. The role requires a Top Secret clearance and leadership experience in distributed systems.

The candidate will design integration with Kafka, create architecture models, and oversee CI/CD and DevSecOps practices. Strong Java/Python/C++ skills and cloud experience are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline with 12+ years of software engineering experience, or a Master’s degree with 10+ years, or a Ph.D. with 8+ years.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance at time of application with ability to obtain Special Program Access.
• Strong programming skills in Java, Python, or C++.
• Experience designing and deploying cloud applications, including microservices and Kafka-based solutions.
• Leadership experience as software architect or lead engineer.
• Familiarity with CI/CD and modern DevSecOps practices.
• Experience with Kafka or similar asynchronous protocols.

Responsibilities

• Support architecture definition for a containerized, cloud-deployed mission planning system.
• Develop and maintain the technical roadmap aligned with milestones.
• Design integration patterns between services and Kafka for streaming data.
• Create architecture models and documentation (e.g., diagrams).
• Collaborate with product owners, systems engineers, and developers to refine requirements.
• Define non-functional requirements (performance, reliability, security, scalability).
• Review and guide implementation in Java, Python, and/or C++.
• Establish architectural standards and best practices (microservices vs modular monolith).
• Support CI/CD pipeline design and DevSecOps for cloud deployments.
• Perform design and code reviews focusing on reliability and maintainability.
• Identify and mitigate risks related to architecture choices.

Skills

Leadership

Programming (Java/Python/C++)

Distributed systems

Cloud architectures

CI/CD & DevSecOps

Communication

Kafka-based solutions

Education

Bachelor’s degree in STEM

Master’s degree in STEM

Ph.D. in STEM

Tools

Kafka

Docker/Kubernetes

Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, CA, is seeking a Staff Software Lead/Architect (Level 5) to guide architecture, design, and roadmaps for a containerized, cloud-deployed mission planning system. The role requires a Top Secret clearance and leadership experience in distributed systems.

The candidate will design integration with Kafka, create architecture models, and oversee CI/CD and DevSecOps practices. Strong Java/Python/C++ skills and cloud experience are essential.