Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems sector is looking for a Software Functional Manager for the MDC2 family of programs located in Melbourne, FL to drive program execution and team development.
This position blends functional management activities, such as mentoring, quarterly reviews, assisting with hiring, and performance management, and mission driven development of program scope of work, such as software design, implementation and test, assisting program management and other leaders. The functional management role will comprise 15% to 20% of the candidate's time and remaining 80% to 85% of the time is expected to be directly funded technical activities as a highly contributing member of a software team in support of an MDC2 programs.
The candidate should have a strong technical background in software development and embedded systems. Software Development focus is for mission applications using software engineering best practices & standards and participate in the full life cycle of software development to include C++ coding to NGAS and MDC2 coding standards, unit testing and software integration testing, software requirements and design documentation and support for program reviews. Management duties cover a team of approximately 12-15 engineers.
Responsibilities:
Candidate will be responsible for day-to-day communications, performance assessment and feedback, career counseling, professional development, employee rewards and recognition, and resolving personnel issues and managing staff. Will provide project staffing support with recruiting, interviews and hiring. Will be responsible for recommending employees for raises and promotions. Candidate will provide detailed employee performance feedback, periodic 1-on-1 meetings, scheduled performance appraisals. Trains, coaches and mentors’ other engineers and support staff with their technical and career development. Responsible for evaluation of current project requirements and assures staff have adequate statement of work to optimize contract performance. Candidate will work with program management and IPT leads in establishing personal, program and functional goals as well as performing performance evaluations and merit adjustments.
Other management duties but are not limited to:
- Create and review software work items on a cross-discipline team
- Mentor engineers in all phases of their career and technical development
- Support program and business management on business acquisition, proposal, and special projects
- Support engineering initiatives
- Assist with staff workload forecast preparation
- Identifying and implementing new or improved tools and processes to increase team efficiency
- Acquire the necessary computers, equipment, and tools to enable the team to accomplish their assigned job
- Program management related duties such as CAM and other Earned Value activities
- Performs technical planning, system integration, verification and validation, cost and risk, and supportability and effectiveness analyses for total systems
- Ensures the logical and systematic conversion of customer or product requirements into total systems solutions that acknowledge technical, schedule, and cost constraints
- Creates, review, and maintains critical documentation
- Strong interpersonal and presentation skills
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 9 years of relevant software experience OR a Master’s degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 7 years of related professional experience OR a PhD in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 5 years of relevant software experience
- Must be familiar with all phases of the software development life cycle
- Prior lead or management experience in a team environment
- Experience in one or more of the following:
- Application implementation in a language like C, C++, C#, Ada, Java or other programming language
- Formal software requirement development and sell off
- Experience with test automation tools and frameworks
- Development of automated test frameworks and their deployment
- Experience creating and maintaining a DevOps continuous integration / continuous deliveries (CI/CD) pipeline and associated tools
- The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance (Interim secret is required to start)
- The ability to obtain and maintain a special program access clearance
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in computer science or computer engineering
- Ability to quickly review, analyze, and understand complex software systems; has experience being able to diagnose and troubleshoot production systems
- Previous experience of briefing and interacting with senior customer officials and internal executive management
- Familiarity with Cameo, Atlassian Tools (Jira, Bitbucket, Confluence, Crucible, Bamboo), and DOORS
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Hold an in-scope U.S. government Top Secret or higher clearance.
- Hold an active Program Access clearance.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in STEM and 9 years relevant software experience OR Master's in STEM and 7 years OR PhD in STEM and 5 years
- Familiarity with all phases of the software development life cycle
- Prior lead or management experience in a team environment (managing ~12-15 engineers)
- Application implementation experience in C, C++, C#, Ada, Java or similar programming languages
- Formal software requirements development and sell-off experience
- Experience with test automation tools and frameworks and development/deployment of automated test frameworks
- Experience creating and maintaining DevOps CI/CD pipelines and associated tools
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance (Interim Secret required to start) and special program access
- Master's degree in computer science or computer engineering
- Ability to analyze, diagnose, and troubleshoot complex software systems
- Experience briefing and interacting with senior customer officials and internal executives
- Familiarity with Cameo, Atlassian Tools (Jira, Bitbucket, Confluence, Crucible, Bamboo), and DOORS
- Excellent oral and written communication and strong interpersonal skills
- Hold an in-scope U.S. government Top Secret or higher clearance
- Hold an active Program Access clearance
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.






