Northrop Grumman Defense Systems (NGDS) is seeking a Principal Cloud Engineer/ Sr. Principal Cloud Engineer at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Successful candidates should have a track record as an effective communicator and problem solver who is able to develop and maintain good working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. The candidate will be an active part of a Cloud Engineering team with expertise in AWS, Azure, GitLab, IaC, and related Cloud technologies that will be responsible for building, maintaining, and scaling the foundational infrastructure.
Summary of Responsibilities
As a Cloud engineer, you will combine software development and IT operations to design, build, and maintain Cloud Infrastructure for the organization. This involves following best practices such as Infrastructure as Code (IaC), CI/CD Automation, Principle of Least Privilege, Centralized Auditing, and Automated Backups.
This position may be filled at a higher level based on the qualifications below.
Basic Qualifications:
- Principal Cloud Engineer (Level 3): Bachelor's degree in STEM with 5 years’ relevant experience OR a master’s degree with 3 years’ experience
- Sr. Principal Cloud Engineer (Level 4): Bachelor's degree in STEM with 8 years’ relevant experience OR a master’s degree with 6 years’ experience
- Active Department of Defense Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance
- Active CompTIA Security+, SecurityX, or CISSP certification
- Minimum of 3 years’ experience in DevOps, software development, or systems administration
- Minimum of 1 year experience with Cloud-based technologies (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
- Strong experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform, OpenTofu, or Ansible
- Strong experience with CI/CD tools, such as GitLab, GitHub, Jenkins, or Cloud-native pipelines
- Experience with Linux Operating System and familiarity with core cloud services, including virtual machines, storage, and networking
- Experience with distributed revision control systems such as Git
Preferred Qualifications
- Strong knowledge of AWS Cloud services (VPC, IAM, EC2, S3, ECR, EKS, ect)
- Strong knowledge of Azure Cloud services (VNET, VM, Entra, MDE, AVD, AKS, ect)
- Experience with OCI-compliant container technology and tools such as Podman or Docker
- Experience with scripting languages such as Python, Bash, and Go to improve Cloud efficiency
- Experience implementing "security as code," including automated vulnerability scanning and compliance-driven infrastructure (DoD STIGs/RMF).
- Experience working in an Agile environment/working knowledge of Agile principles and practices
- Experience with project/issue tracking software tools like Jira and Confluence
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in STEM with relevant years of experience (Principal: 5 years; Sr. Principal: 8 years) OR master's degree in STEM with relevant years (Principal: 3 years; Sr. Principal: 6 years)
- Active Department of Defense Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) security clearance
- Active CompTIA Security+, SecurityX, or CISSP certification
- Minimum of 3 years' experience in DevOps, software development, or systems administration
- Minimum of 1 year experience with Cloud-based technologies (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
- Strong experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform, OpenTofu, or Ansible
- Strong experience with CI/CD tools, such as GitLab, GitHub, Jenkins, or Cloud-native pipelines
- Experience with Linux Operating System and familiarity with core cloud services (virtual machines, storage, networking)
- Experience with distributed revision control systems such as Git
- Strong knowledge of AWS Cloud services (VPC, IAM, EC2, S3, ECR, EKS, etc.)
- Strong knowledge of Azure Cloud services (VNET, VM, Entra, MDE, AVD, AKS, etc.)
- Experience with OCI-compliant container technology and tools such as Podman or Docker
- Experience with scripting languages such as Python, Bash, and Go
- Experience implementing security as code, automated vulnerability scanning, and DoD STIGs/RMF compliance-driven infrastructure
- Experience working in an Agile environment and familiarity with Jira and Confluence
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.








