Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal Software Engineer / Sr. Principal Software Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position will be located onsite in Melbourne, Florida.
Essential Functions:
- Work in an innovative environment, on significantly diverse assignments, and in collaborative team settings across all levels
- Participate in the full software development life cycle including requirements, design, implementation, qualification, and delivery of software products to our customers
- Architect and develop embedded mission systems software applications on a real time operating system
- Be a part of Agile Scrum teams to develop software products for multiple software baselines
This requisition may be filled at either a Principal Software Engineer level 3 or a Sr. Principal Software Engineer level 4
Basic Qualifications for a Principal Software Engineer (level 3):
- Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 5 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 3 years of related engineering experience; OR a PhD in a STEM discipline and 1 years of related engineering experience.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience with Agile Framework within the last 3 years.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience developing software and scripts in C, Object Oriented C++ AND/OR Python for Safety/Mission-Critical applications/Systems within the last 3 years.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience with Software Change Control, Change Management, and CI/CD tools such as: Atlassian (Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, Bamboo), AND/OR GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes within the last 3 years.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience architecting, Designing, Modeling (Rhapsody OR Cameo), Implementing, Maintaining, Integrating, Debugging, Verifying and Qualifying Safety/Mission-Critical Embedded Real Time Software written in OO C++ running on Real-Time Operating Systems such as: VxWorks, Integrity, AND/OR Real Time Embedded Linux within the last 3 years.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience with Static & Dynamic Code Analysis Tools and Fuzzing Tools such as: Coverity, SonarQube, AND/OR Fortify within the last 3 years.
- Active DoD Secret level clearance OR Top Secret (in-scope)
- Ability to obtain and maintain initial Special Program Access (SAP/PAR). This SAP/PAR must be obtained prior to commencement of employment and must be obtained within a reasonable amount of time as determined by the company to meet its business needs
Basic Qualifications for a Sr. Principal Software Engineer (level 4):
- Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 8 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of related engineering experience; OR a PhD in a STEM discipline and 4 years of related engineering experience.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience with Agile Framework within the last 3 years.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience developing software and scripts in C, Object Oriented C++ AND/OR Python for Safety/Mission-Critical applications/Systems within the last 3 years.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience with Software Change Control, Change Management, and CI/CD tools such as: Atlassian (Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, Bamboo), AND/OR GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes within the last 3 years.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience architecting, Designing, Modeling (Rhapsody OR Cameo), Implementing, Maintaining, Integrating, Debugging, Verifying and Qualifying Safety/Mission-Critical Embedded Real Time Software written in OO C++ running on Real-Time Operating Systems such as: VxWorks, Integrity, AND/OR Real Time Embedded Linux within the last 3 years.
- Demonstrated Professional Experience with Static & Dynamic Code Analysis Tools and Fuzzing Tools such as: Coverity, SonarQube, AND/OR Fortify within the last 3 years.
- Active DoD Secret level clearance OR Top Secret (in-scope)
- Ability to obtain and maintain initial Special Program Access (SAP/PAR). This SAP/PAR must be obtained prior to commencement of employment and must be obtained within a reasonable amount of time as determined by the company to meet its business needs
Preferred Qualifications for both a Principal Software Engineer and Sr. Principal Software Engineer:
- Differentiating characteristics include demonstrated leadership, teamwork capabilities, strong time management, organizational, and interpersonal communication skills.
- Ability to collaborate with systems engineers, hardware designers and integration/test engineers to develop and maintain complex software systems
- Recent Demonstrated Professional Experience with DOORs AND/OR Software Requirement Specification Testing using Simulators, automated scripting languages such as Python, MATLAB, JavaScript, AND/OR Bash.
- Recent Demonstrated Experience with software network interfaces and troubleshooting networks (TCP/IP, UDP, LAN, VLAN, SNMP or others).
- Current Special Access Program (SAP) access.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in STEM (or Master's/PhD with commensurate experience) with required years of related engineering experience
- Demonstrated professional experience with Agile frameworks within the last 3 years
- Professional experience developing software/scripts in C, Object Oriented C++ and/or Python for safety/mission-critical applications within the last 3 years
- Experience with software change control, change management, and CI/CD tools (Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, Bamboo and/or GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes) within the last 3 years
- Experience architecting, designing, modeling (Rhapsody or Cameo) and delivering safety/mission-critical embedded real-time software in OO C++ on RTOS (VxWorks, Integrity, or Real Time Embedded Linux) within the last 3 years
- Experience with static and dynamic code analysis and fuzzing tools (Coverity, SonarQube, and/or Fortify) within the last 3 years
- Active DoD Secret level clearance or Top Secret (in-scope)
- Ability to obtain and maintain initial Special Program Access (SAP/PAR) prior to commencement of employment
- For Principal: minimum experience per degree (Bachelor's +5 years, Master's +3 years, PhD +1 year); For Sr. Principal: higher experience thresholds (Bachelor's +8, Master's +6, PhD +4)
- Demonstrated professional experience with DOORs and/or software requirement specification testing using simulators and automated scripting (Python, MATLAB, JavaScript, Bash)
- Experience troubleshooting software network interfaces and networks (TCP/IP, UDP, LAN, VLAN, SNMP)
- Demonstrated leadership, teamwork, time management, organizational and interpersonal communication skills
- Current Special Access Program (SAP) access
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.





