Northrop Grumman Space Systems, Multi-Domain Operations, and Missile Defense Integration Business Unit (BU) has an exciting career opportunity for a Sr. Principal DevOps Engineer – Level 4 to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. Our domain provides rewarding work that contributes to the latest advancements being made in the industry. The position is located on-site at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, CO.
Position Overview:
As a DevOps Engineer – Level 4 you will Administer, monitor, and maintain Linux-based systems in lab and development environments, including configuration, patching, and troubleshooting. You will load, customize, and harden Linux development workstations and servers to meet program security and performance requirements. Collaborate closely with software developers and other engineering teams to support build environments, development workflows, and OS-related issues. While in a collaborative environment to understand system requirements and create and implement DevOps solutions using tools like Kubernetes, SonarQube, Podman, and other tools to enable quick and efficient software development and delivery.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Troubleshoot and repair hardware problems, including diagnosing faulty components and coordinating repair or replacement
- Respond rapidly to high priority incidents, diagnose root causes across OS, network, and hardware layers, and restore service for critical lab environments
- Document system configurations, procedures, and changes, while contributing to maintaining accurate lab infrastructure inventories
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline preferred from an accredited university and 8 years of related experience or a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of experience, or a PhD and 4 years of experience. A high school diploma and 12 years of related work experience in lieu of a degree may be considered
- Applicants must have a current, active in-scope U.S. Government issued Secret security clearance at the time of application, which is required to start
- Ability and willingness to travel 10% to support business needs
- Strong understanding of Linux system administration (Red Hat or similar enterprise distributions) in lab, development, or production environments
- Experience installing, configuring, and troubleshooting Linux operating systems, software, servers, and associated lab hardware, including managing user accounts, groups, and file system permissions
- Experience troubleshooting operating systems, networks, and hardware issues across servers and workstations
- Experience performing OS level package management, handling kernel/driver interactions, and conducting performance tuning in Linux environments
- Familiarity with scripting for system configuration, automation (Ansible), and maintenance tasks, including helping identify areas that could benefit from automation
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with engineers and technical leads on schedule driven programs, to include strict adherence to lockdown windows that prohibit system access
Preferred Qualifications:
- Familiarity with virtualization platforms (e.g., VMware) and applying security patches and updates to virtualized environments
- Experience with vulnerability scanning and security compliance, applying OS/security patches, managing patch repositories, and maintaining antivirus tools
- Experience supporting build and deployment environments, including maintaining build scripts and installation media for development environments
- Experience or desire to learn the application, deployment and sustainment of containerized environments
- Experience with OpenShift, Podman, Docker
- Experience with IDM/IPA and RSA
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in STEM with 8 years related experience (or Master's +6 years, PhD +4 years, or HS diploma +12 years considered)
- Current, active in-scope U.S. Government Secret security clearance at time of application
- Ability and willingness to travel approximately 10% to support business needs
- Strong Linux system administration experience (Red Hat or similar enterprise distributions)
- Experience installing, configuring, and troubleshooting Linux OS, servers, workstations, user accounts, groups, and permissions
- Experience troubleshooting OS, network, and hardware issues across servers and workstations
- Experience with OS-level package management, kernel/driver interactions, and Linux performance tuning
- Familiarity with scripting for system configuration and automation, including Ansible
- Ability to respond rapidly to high-priority incidents and restore critical lab environments
- Document system configurations, procedures, and infrastructure inventories
- Familiarity with virtualization platforms (e.g., VMware)
- Experience with vulnerability scanning, security compliance, applying OS/security patches, and managing patch repositories
- Experience supporting build and deployment environments and maintaining build scripts/installation media
- Experience or desire to learn containerized environment deployment and sustainment (OpenShift, Podman, Docker)
- Experience with OpenShift, Podman, Docker
- Experience with IDM/IPA and RSA
Northrop Grumman Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Northrop Grumman and has not been reviewed or approved by Northrop Grumman.
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Retirement Support — 401(k) matching is considered strong, with additional defined-benefit coverage for certain cohorts and options like catch-up contributions. Retirement programs are repeatedly highlighted as a core strength of the total rewards.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — PTO, company-paid holidays, and compressed work schedules (such as 9/80) provide meaningful time away and flexibility. These scheduling options are cited as a major quality-of-life benefit across many locations.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave alongside caregiver leave, adoption assistance, and back-up care supports a range of family needs. These programs have been expanded recently, signaling continued investment in family support.
Northrop Grumman Insights
What We Do
We are a close-knit community of big thinkers collaborating to keep the world safe. Our passion, creativity and expertise bring next-level technology solutions to life in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, space, and logistics and modernization for our customers around the globe. On the Northrop Grumman team, you’ll join our pursuit of excellence immersed in a dynamic culture of innovation and respect. Your unique perspective will help achieve our shared vision for the future of global security. Every step of the way, you'll be supported by world-class training, employee resource groups and a comprehensive benefits package that enables greater health and happiness for you and your family. Worldwide and across disciplines, we’re challenging what’s possible for technology to protect people and places from undersea to outer space and into cyberspace. And we see the impact of our performance every day. We are Northrop Grumman, and we work on what matters—now, you too can make a difference. Explore opportunities in engineering, IT, manufacturing, business management, cybersecurity and more with us. Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.








