Principal / Senior Principal Engineer Aeronautical - Software

Relocation assistance may be available. Requires an active US Government Secret (or higher) clearance and ability to obtain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance. Travel required: 10% of the time.

About the role

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems has an opening for a Principal / Senior Principal Engineer Aeronautical - Software in the Test and Evaluation organization, located onsite in Melbourne, FL. This role may be filled at the Principal or Senior Principal level based on qualifications.

In this role, the successful candidate will design, develop, deploy, and enhance advanced software solutions focused on laboratory test bench virtualization for flight control, communication, and mission system functionalities. The ideal candidate will have a strong technical background, a proactive approach to problem-solving, and a commitment to driving innovative improvements.

Responsibilities

• Assist in the development of the virtual lab topology (compute, storage, networking) using industry standard hypervisors and container orchestration.
• Develop automation scripts (IaC) for provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management of lab resources.
• Build or integrate device emulation layers that expose virtual instruments to end users via standard protocols.
• Implement audit logging to meet security and compliance requirements.
• Create CI/CD pipelines for continuous delivery of lab images, updates, and patches.
• Produce comprehensive documentation (design diagrams, SOPs, user guides) and train lab administrators.
• Work closely with domain experts to translate experimental procedures into reproducible virtual workflows.

Requirements

Principal Level

• Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM discipline AND 5 years of related professional/military experience, OR a Master of Science degree in a STEM discipline AND 3 years of related experience, OR a STEM Ph.D. AND 1 year of related experience.
• Active US Government Secret (or higher) clearance (with a background investigation within the past 6 years or enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
• Ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance.
• Willingness and ability to obtain a RedHat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) certification.
• Experience using Git or similar version control systems.
• Experience working across Windows and/or Linux environments (e.g., RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, or similar distributions).

Senior Principal Level

• Bachelor of Science degree in a STEM discipline AND 8 years of related professional/military experience, OR a Master of Science degree in a STEM discipline AND 6 years of related experience, OR a STEM Ph.D. AND 4 years of related experience.
• Active US Government Secret (or higher) clearance (with a background investigation within the past 6 years or enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
• Ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance.
• Willingness and ability to obtain a RedHat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) certification.
• Experience using Git or similar version control systems.
• Experience working across Windows and/or Linux environments (e.g., RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, or similar distributions).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with systemd (e.g., use of systemctl, journalctl).
• Experience with hypervisors (e.g., VMWare ESXi, Xen, kvm, Hyper-V), virtualization, and creating virtual machines.
• RedHat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) certification.
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing approaches.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team and communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience with setting up and configuring firewall and reverse proxy software (PFSense, OPNSense, HAProxy, or nginx).
• Experience with OS automation tools.
• Experience with implementing and tailoring the implementation of DOD STIGs.
• Active Top Secret clearance.

Benefits

• Flexible work arrangements and a 9/80 work schedule with every other Friday off.
• Health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan.
• Company-paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.
• Annual bonuses designed to reward individual contributions and allow employees to share in company results.
• Eligibility for overtime, shift differential, and discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.
• Long Term Incentives for Vice President or Director positions.
• Phenomenal learning opportunities and exposure to a wide variety of projects and customers.

Pay

Primary Level Salary Range: $98,400.00 - $147,600.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $122,800.00 - $184,200.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; base salary offers consider the scope and responsibilities of the position, 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.

Schedule

9/80 work schedule with every other Friday off.