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.
Northrop Grumman Defense Systems has an opening for a Manager Software Engineering 1 based out of Orlando, FL.
As a Manager Software Engineering 1 at Northrop Grumman, you will have a challenging and rewarding opportunity to be a part of our Cross-Domain Handling of Releasable Data (CHORD) portfolio. CHORD is a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) two-domain Cross Domain Solution (CDS). The CHORD portfolio comprises multiple contract awards and with various customers.
The successful candidate will be exceptionally meticulous, collaborative, open, transparent, and team-oriented with a focus on team empowerment & personal responsibility, flexibility, continuous learning, and a culture of seeking the best performance from everyone.
Roles and Responsibilities:
- Lead a team of software engineers performing direct work on multiple programs
- Demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills with strong interpersonal skills.
- Use good judgement to pursue courses of action necessary to obtain desired results. Work closely with program-assigned systems engineering, software development, and management professionals to ensure that the software lifecycle is accomplished with high quality and efficiency.
- Oversee and manage the quality and timeliness of the organization’s products, and identification and remediation of potential issues before they become problems.
- Develop and manage detailed budgets and schedules and create work assignments for indirect tasking.
The successful candidate will have a current full-time Program assignment; with a subset of the time allocated to Functional Manage duties, which fluctuate throughout the year due to business needs and the performance management cycle. An ideal allocation of 20% Functional Manager duties and 80% Individual Contributor Duties.
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelors of Science in Engineering, Computer Science or other STEM discipline, and 5 years of related technical experience OR Master’s degree in a STEM field and 3 years of related technical experience OR PHD in a STEM field and 1 years of related technical experience.
- Active DoD Secret Clearance.
- Demonstrate an understanding of all aspects of the software development lifecycle.
- Exceptional leadership skills in order to coordinate collaboration across engineering teams.
- Demonstrated mastery in various competencies of Teaching, Mentoring, and Facilitation.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Full knowledge of software development lifecycle and extensive technical expertise.
- Proven interaction in a distributed team environment.
- Strong background in software testing, troubleshooting, and the process of the Software Review Board.
- An advanced degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or other STEM discipline.
- Experience in engineering functional management.
- Proven leadership qualities and strong interpersonal skills.
- Demonstrate exemplary professionalism and ability to maintain composure in stressful situations.
- Strong team-building/collaboration skills.
- Demonstrated ability to build diverse/inclusive teams with engaged team members.
- Demonstrated mentoring and coaching skills, and excellent 2-way communication skills (upward and downward).
- Experience leading a team of 5-12 employees with a record of on-time performance.
- Experience in developing proposal inputs (task descriptions and basis of estimate).
- Time management and organizational skills to prioritize across concurrent program and functional responsibilities.
- Experience with performing software development using agile methodologies.
- Experience with using Atlassian tool suite.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or STEM and 5 years related technical experience OR Master's +3 years OR PhD +1 year
- Active DoD Secret clearance
- Understanding of all aspects of the software development lifecycle (SDLC)
- Exceptional leadership and strong interpersonal/communication skills
- Experience teaching, mentoring, and facilitation
- Experience managing quality, schedules, and budgets
- Experience working closely with systems engineering and program management
- Experience with software testing, troubleshooting, and Software Review Board processes
- Experience with Agile methodologies and distributed team environments
- Experience using the Atlassian tool suite
- Experience leading teams of 5-12 employees and performing functional management duties
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.









