Come join Northrop Grumman – Xetron, part of the Mission Systems sector, where we develop new capabilities for our military and intelligence customers around the globe. At Xetron we design systems that only science fiction writers could imagine, because they’re that cool!
Xetron is an operating unit of the Northrop Grumman Corporation, located in Cincinnati, Ohio where employees have the chance to know everyone on site while working on cutting‑edge technologies and high‑impact products. You’ll tackle the next generation of challenging problems, share expertise, and learn from world‑class teammates. Remember when you were excited about the challenge of the problem, the importance of the solution, and the fun you had with your team? You’ll experience that at Xetron! See why we receive comments on our YouTube Videos like “This company is insanely advanced” and “Wow. This is mind blowing.”
The Neptune Phoenix program provides sustainment for our existing system portfolio while driving development, production, and operational support for the next generation of technical collection capabilities. The team designs and integrates ground‑ and platform‑based collection systems built on model‑based systems engineering (MBSE), open architectures, and open standards
This position is for a Lead Cyber Software Engineer position on Neptune Phoenix to lead a team of software engineers implementing cloud-based, full-stack software applications that incorporate advanced algorithms, decision support processing, and data fusion. The Lead Software Engineer serves as the authority for software architecture and design, and owns responsibility to create, evolve, and maintain the architecture of the software to meet operational needs across the full stack (front-end, back-end, data, and cloud infrastructure).
The cloud-native solution will include:
- Decision support system processing and orchestration
- Algorithm development and integration (e.g., optimization, analytics, and automated reasoning)
- Producing knowledge from disparate data sources and sensors via scalable data services and APIs
- Implementation of user-facing components and services that expose these capabilities to operators and analytic users
The position requires strong full-stack software engineering skills and solid understanding of modern cloud architectures. Desired knowledge includes computer networking and optimization, modern software development environments, cloud integration, and virtualized/containerized computing environments such as Docker or VMware. Experience developing solutions using SysML/UML is a plus.
What You’ll Get to Do
- Lead a team building cloud-based, full-stack mission applications that directly impact national security
- Own the architecture and design of advanced decision support systems and analytic services
- Build and integrate microservices, APIs, and data pipelines that turn disparate data into actionable insight
- Work with modern tech (cloud services, containers, CI/CD) in a real-world, operational environment
Essential function of the role is leading a team conducting:
- Full-stack Software Engineering, to include design, development, integration, testing, deployment, and operations of cloud-based mission applications and services
- Design and implementation of cloud-hosted microservices, APIs, and data pipelines to support decision support and analytic workflows
- Evaluation of commercial solutions as part of make/buy analyses, including cloud services and COTS/GOTS components
- Development of custom algorithms and analytic services for decision making and situational awareness
- Integration of custom analytic tools and decision support capabilities into an overall system and enterprise architecture
- Development of data products and knowledge services for automated and manual consumers of generated data (dashboards, UIs, external systems, and APIs)
Basic Qualifications for Sr. Principal Cyber Software Engineer Level:
- B.S. degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related field and 8 years of programming experience; or M.S. degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related field and 6 years of programming experience or Ph.D and 4 years of relevant work experience.
- Demonstrated experience developing software solutions using Python, C, or C++
- Demonstrated experience integrating commercial software products as part of a custom software solution
- Proven experience leading teams of 2-8 software engineers
- Proven experience with the full lifecycle of software engineering including the operations and maintenance of fielded systems
- Active Top-Secret clearance is required
- US Citizenship is required
Preferred Qualifications:
- Active SCI security clearance
- Advanced degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field
- Experience developing software solutions for US government classified environments
- Hands-on experience developing full-stack software solutions hosted in cloud environments such as AWS or Azure (e.g., microservices, serverless, containerized workloads, managed data services)
- Experience integrating COTS/GOTS software tools into a deliverable software product
- Experience with Agile methodology
- Experience with software development utilizing UML or SysML within Cameo
This position offers the option of a 9/80 work schedule. The 9/80 schedule allows employees who work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday to take every other Friday off.
Primary Level Salary Range: $142,200.00 - $213,200.00The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.Skills Required
- B.S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related field with 8 years programming experience (or M.S. with 6 years, Ph.D. with 4 years)
- Demonstrated experience developing software using Python, C, or C++
- Proven experience leading teams of software engineers (2-8 engineers)
- Proven experience with full lifecycle software engineering including operations and maintenance of fielded systems
- Active Top-Secret security clearance
- US Citizenship
- Strong full-stack software engineering skills and solid understanding of modern cloud architectures
- Experience integrating commercial software products as part of a custom software solution
- Hands-on experience developing full-stack solutions hosted in cloud environments (AWS or Azure)
- Active SCI security clearance
- Advanced degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field
- Experience with Agile methodology and UML/SysML (Cameo) for software development
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.








