Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems Sector has an opening for a Software Engineer/Principal Engineer Software to join our Global Surveillance Division supporting the team of qualified, diverse individuals. The location for this opportunity is Melbourne, Florida and will be primarily based within our office spaces to support the program and business needs. Operating on our 9/80 schedule means you will get every other Friday off.
The position has NO remote or Hybrid work available .
Responsibilities will include deploying, automating, maintaining, troubleshooting, and improving the systems and software infrastructure running smoothly. This role needs hands-on technical experience and a can-do approach towards environmental automation and management along with continuous improvements. You will be a team member working in agile development process. You will be responsible for the design and implementation of application builds, releases, deployment along with configuration activities.
Your responsibilities will include working with internal business partners to gather requirements, prototyping, and architecting complex solutions supporting the building and test plan execution, performing quality reviews, and triaging and fixing operational issues. The candidate will assist with the integration, troubleshooting and testing of implemented software changes. The ideal candidate will have the ability to take ownership of an ambiguous hard problems and drive to a solution, while working in a team environment. It is critical that you understand the software development life cycle and have an in-depth knowledge of automated testing to facilitate and analyze large data sets. The Software Engineer will develop, modify, and maintain customized or standardized applications using software engineering best practices and standards, and participate in the full life cycle of software development, to include requirements development, modeling and design, application development, unit to CSCI testing, integration, formal system testing, release, installation, and maintenance.
The ideal candidate will have the ability to take ownership of hard problems and drive to a solution, while working in a team environment and provide leadership for its implementation. It is critical that you understand the software development life cycle and have an in-depth knowledge of automated testing to facilitate and analyze large data sets. The Software Engineer will participate in the full life cycle of software development, to include requirements development, modeling and design, application development, unit to CSCI testing, integration, formal system testing, release, installation, and maintenance. The Software Engineer will apply technical expertise in solving complex integrations problems.
Essential Functions:
Full lifecycle design, implementation, and unit testing of software.
Apply extensive technical expertise and have full knowledge of other related disciplines. Able to communicate effectively and clearly present technical approaches and findings.
Provide technical solutions to a wide range of complex difficult problems that are imaginative, thorough, practicable, and consistent with programs objectives.
In depth understanding and wide application of technical principle, theories, and concepts in the field listed under the basic qualifications.
Design, develop, document, test and debug applications software and systems that contain logical and mathematical solutions.
Conduct multidisciplinary research when needed and collaborates with equipment designers and/or hardware engineers in the planning, design, development, and utilization of electronic data processing systems for product.
Work with various team members to integrate functionality with other software components.
Provide technical solutions to a wide range of complex difficult problems. Solutions are imaginative, thorough, practicable, and consistent with organization objectives.
Supporting the gathering and reporting software metrics.
Follow program software best practices.
Develop software products within all phases of the software lifecycle.
Able to work independently and identify solutions to complex problems.
Represents the organization as the prime technical contact on contracts and projects. Interacts with senior external personnel on significant technical matters often require coordination between organizations.
Basic Qualifications:
Engineer Software - Bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 2 or more years of experience in software engineering OR a Master’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 0 or more years of experience in software engineering
Principal Engineer Software - Bachelor’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) discipline from an accredited university and 5 or more years of experience in software engineering OR a Master’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 3 or more years of experience in software engineering
Solid understanding of object-oriented programming languages, including C/C++.
Familiarity with development on Windows, Linux, and RTOS like LynxOS or VxWorks.
Experience with aviation or safety-critical systems
Familiarity with the Atlassian tool suite, plugins, Git and Confluence.
Experience developing software using Java, C++ or other object oriented software languages
Must be a US citizen with the ability to obtain and maintain the final adjudicated government Secret Clearance, and any program access(es) required for the position within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company.
Preferred Qualifications:
Master’s degree in a (STEM) Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics discipline from an accredited university with 5+ years’ software development experience.
Experience developing software within the SELinux environment.
Comfort with agile development tools such as the GitLab tool suite, including proficiency with version control systems like Git.
Full software development life cycle experience.
Rhapsody and/or Cameo UML Modeling experience.
Experience with developing automation solutions supporting the CI/CD pipeline.
Experience configuring RedHat Linux and Microsoft Windows within a secure environment.
Experience using python and other scripting languages in a development environment.
Experience with formal software test and Weapon System evaluations.
Experience in automation servers (Bamboo, Jenkins)
Experience in automated testing (Selenium, Unit, Coverity)
Experience in software containerization (Docker)
Experience in container Orchestration (Kubernetes)
Experience in Configuration Management and Deployment (Ansible, SaltStack)
Experience with Application Containerization
Evidence of experience with standards for safety-critical software development, such as DO-178C.
Specialist knowledge of avionics communication protocols, specifically ARINC 429, ARINC 422, and MIL-STD-1553.
Experience in testing methodologies pertinent to avionics systems, including hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing.
Knowledge of certification processes for aviation software standards, including RTCA/DO-178 for software.
Proven capacity to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team and demonstrate effective communication skills in technical discussions.
Proficient in creating and maintaining comprehensive software documentation throughout the development lifecycle.
US citizen with a current in scope DoD secret or higher clearance.
Currently the holder of a special program access.
Excellent oral and written communication skills and Strong interpersonal skills.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline
- Engineer: 2+ years of software engineering experience
- Principal Engineer: 5+ years of software engineering experience
- Solid understanding of object-oriented programming languages including C/C++
- Familiarity with development on Windows, Linux, and RTOS (LynxOS or VxWorks)
- Experience with aviation or safety-critical systems
- Familiarity with the Atlassian tool suite, plugins, Git and Confluence
- Experience developing software using Java, C++ or other object-oriented languages
- Must be a U.S. citizen and able to obtain and maintain a final adjudicated Secret clearance
- Master's degree in STEM with 5+ years' software development experience
- Experience developing software within the SELinux environment
- Comfort with GitLab and agile development tool suites
- Full software development lifecycle experience
- Rhapsody and/or Cameo UML modeling experience
- Experience developing automation solutions supporting CI/CD pipelines
- Experience configuring RedHat Linux and Microsoft Windows within a secure environment
- Experience using Python and other scripting languages in a development environment
- Experience with formal software test and Weapon System evaluations
- Experience with automation servers (Bamboo, Jenkins)
- Experience in automated testing (Selenium, unit testing, Coverity)
- Experience with software containerization (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes)
- Experience with configuration management and deployment tools (Ansible, SaltStack)
- Familiarity with DO-178C and other safety-critical software standards
- Specialist knowledge of avionics communication protocols (ARINC 429, ARINC 422, MIL-STD-1553)
- Experience with HIL and SIL testing methodologies for avionics systems
- Knowledge of aviation software certification processes (RTCA/DO-178)
- Proven ability to create and maintain comprehensive software documentation
- Current in-scope DoD Secret or higher clearance
- Currently holder of special program access
- Excellent oral and written communication and strong interpersonal skills
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.








