Northrop Grumman is seeking a Lead Databricks Data Security Engineer to lead the design, implementation, and governance of access control across our Databricks Lakehouse environment. This role will serve as the senior technical owner of the data access control model, defining the architecture, establishing engineering standards, and translating security and compliance requirements into scalable technical controls. The selected candidate will play a key role in building the Databricks security function and will work closely with data engineering, platform engineering, and enterprise stakeholders. This is a hands-on software engineering and architecture role that requires both strategic leadership and direct technical implementation.
The primary location of this position will be Falls Church, VA. We will allow for fulltime telework as well.
Key Responsibilities:
Lead the design and implementation of RBAC and ABAC within Databricks Unity Catalog, including data structure, access models, and tagging standards.
Define the security architecture for data access, including dynamic views, row-level security, and column masking.
Develop the identity governance approach for Databricks, including service principals, workload identities, and integration with enterprise identity providers.
Translate regulatory, contractual, and compliance requirements into practical technical controls within the platform.
Establish and maintain data classification standards and tagging structures that support scalable access control.
Implement grants, catalogs, tags, and access controls as code using Terraform and/or Databricks Asset Bundles to support version control and audit readiness.
Work closely with workspace administrators and platform engineers to align workspace, compute, secrets, and network controls with the broader data access strategy.
Create guardrails, templates, and streamlined workflows that allow data engineers to manage access appropriately while maintaining strong security controls.
Basic Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and at least 8 years as a Software Engineer or Data Engineer with a heavy focus on data platform security and security automation; Master's degree and at least 6 years of relevant experience.
At least 2 years of hands on experience implementing Databricks Unity Catalog security features.
Demonstrated experience designing and implementing RBAC and ABAC models at scale, including hands on experience with Databricks Unity Catalog, grants, dynamic views, row and column level filtering and masking.
Fluency with identity and federation patterns including SCIM, service principals, and integration with enterprise identity providers such as Entra ID.
Experience applying infrastructure-as-code practices, preferably Terraform to access, tagging, and policy management in Databricks.
Proficiency in Python and SQL for automation, monitoring, and compliance.
Preferred Qualifications
The ability to obtain a government security clearance
Working onsite full time in Falls Church, VA
Master's degree
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and at least 8 years of Software Engineering or Data Engineering experience focused on data platform security and security automation, or a master's degree and at least 6 years of relevant experience
- At least 2 years of hands-on experience implementing Databricks Unity Catalog security features
- Experience designing and implementing RBAC and ABAC models at scale, including Databricks Unity Catalog, grants, dynamic views, row-level filtering, column-level filtering, row-level masking, and column-level masking
- Fluency with identity and federation patterns, including SCIM, service principals, and enterprise identity provider integration such as Entra ID
- Experience with infrastructure-as-code practices, preferably Terraform, for Databricks access, tagging, and policy management
- Proficiency in Python and SQL for automation, monitoring, and compliance
- Ability to obtain a government security clearance
- Master's degree
- Ability to work onsite full time in Falls Church, Virginia
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.
