Please note that this opportunity is contingent on program funding. Start dates are determined after funding confirmation.
Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is looking to add a Senior Principal Electronics Engineer - Infrastructure Architect to our team in Rancho Bernardo, CA or Palmdale, CA, depending upon the selected candidate’s preference. The candidate should have familiarity working in an Integrated Product Team construct.
Roles and Responsibilities will include:
- Understand and decompose customer requirements to support Infrastructure as a Service development and delivery across multiple business areas and baselines
- Monitor external technology development and maturation both in industry and within the company, applying new technologies and principles across programs to build a consistent technical vision for data center systems
- Participate in development and peer reviews
- Work with Thread Leads as well as system Responsible Engineers to develop acceptance criteria for engineering design and implementation, ensuring consistency of implementation across multiple business areas and baselines
- Lead new design and capture efforts across the enterprise to build the foundation for future systems and incorporate opportunities into existing programs
- Decompose complex issues into high-level executive briefs for program leadership
- Provide technical leadership to a team of cloud and infrastructure engineers
- Provide technical leadership, direction, and knowledge transfer to other team members during the implementation of technical solutions
The selected candidate will be required to work full-time, on-site at our facility. There is no remote / hybrid / telework available for this position. Travel up to 25% may be required.
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 8 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a relevant STEM discipline and 6 years of related engineering experience; OR a PhD in a relevant STEM discipline and 4 years of related engineering experience.
- Experience developing and deploying highly scalable datacenter systems to support IaaS models
- Experience designing and developing on-premises and hybrid datacenter systems utilizing technologies such as VMware ESXi/VCF and Microsoft Azure
- Experience in scripting/programming languages such as Python, PowerShell, Visual Basic, .Net, Java, C, and C#
- Experience designing and developing multi-tier storage solutions
- Infrastructure automation experience with tools such as Ansible, Puppet, Terraform, etc.
- Experience with automated documentation tool(s) such as Sphinx or MkDocs
- Experience with or ability to author and maintain technical installation, configuration, and update documentation
- Experience with or ability to create end-to-end infrastructure blueprints/roadmaps that meet scalability, reliability, security, and program SOW
- Active DoD Top Secret clearance (with a background investigation within the past 5 years or enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
- 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
- Current applicable program access.
- Experience leading a technical team including estimating, assigning, and tracking work
- Experience with matrixed organizations and remote/distributed teams
- Proven track record of building and mentoring high performing engineering teams.
- Excellent communication, interpersonal skills, and the ability to interface with all levels of employees and management, and translate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in a relevant STEM discipline (or Master's/PhD with reduced experience)
- 8+ years related engineering experience (or 6 years with Master's, 4 years with PhD)
- Experience developing and deploying highly scalable datacenter systems to support IaaS models
- Experience designing and developing on-premises and hybrid datacenter systems utilizing VMware ESXi/VCF and Microsoft Azure
- Experience with scripting/programming languages: Python, PowerShell, Visual Basic, .NET, Java, C, C#
- Experience designing and developing multi-tier storage solutions
- Infrastructure automation experience with tools such as Ansible, Puppet, Terraform
- Experience with automated documentation tools such as Sphinx or MkDocs
- Ability to author and maintain technical installation, configuration, and update documentation
- Ability to create end-to-end infrastructure blueprints and roadmaps meeting scalability, reliability, and security requirements
- Active DoD Top Secret clearance with investigation within past 5 years or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation
- Ability to obtain and maintain initial Special Program Access (SAP/PAR) prior to employment
- Ability to work full-time on-site (Rancho Bernardo, CA or Palmdale, CA) and travel up to 25%
- Familiarity working in an Integrated Product Team (IPT) construct and providing technical leadership to cloud/infrastructure teams
- Current applicable program access
- Experience leading technical teams including estimating, assigning, and tracking work
- Experience with matrixed organizations and remote/distributed teams
- Proven track record of building and mentoring high performing engineering teams
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and ability to translate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
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.









