Principal / Sr. Principal DevOps Software Engineer

Relocation assistance may be available. This position requires an active Secret clearance and the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI clearance. Travel is required, up to 10% of the time.

About the Role

At Northrop Grumman, our employees work on revolutionary systems that impact lives globally, from historic technological advancements to pioneering future innovations. We foster a culture of intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity, and bold ideas, where your contributions help define what’s possible. This role is based at the SIGINT Technology Center (STC) in Chantilly, VA, supporting programs focused on SIGINT payloads integrated across airborne and ground platforms.

The STC team manages 9 system types and 32 globally fielded systems, providing 24/7/365 subject matter expert (SME) support. Responsibilities include system design, engineering development, integration, testing, field operations, maintenance, and production. The program operates under a customer-driven mission tempo, coordinating with field service representatives, operators, subcontractors, and government customers for engineering and maintenance tasks.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, document, test, and debug software development environments and pipelines.
• Document current and future DevOps processes and develop procedures to ensure data pipeline integrity and reliability.
• Build and maintain computer images (Linux and Windows) and manage software repositories.
• Develop and execute system builds and deployments on System Integration Labs (SILs) and development environments.
• Support system design, testing, and building of upgraded capabilities, including software and hardware integration and test (I&T).
• Conduct multidisciplinary research and collaborate with engineers on DevOps systems for SILs, testing, or production.
• Develop knowledge of system and software architecture and mission operations.

Requirements

This requisition may be filled at either the Principal or Senior Principal DevOps Software Engineer level.

Principal DevOps Software Engineer

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a STEM-related discipline with a minimum of 5 years of experience (or Master’s with 3 years, PhD with 1 year, or Associate’s with 7 years).
• U.S. citizenship with an active Secret clearance; ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI clearance.
• Experience with software DevOps for both software and hardware integration.
• Proficiency in CI/CD best practices, automated builds/tests, quality gates, and CI tools (e.g., Jenkins administration and pipeline development).
• Experience with network engineering (TCP/IP, VLAN, network protocols).
• Knowledge of Windows and Linux operating systems.
• Experience in documentation and process development.
• Experience maintaining and administering Git version control systems.
• Familiarity with the V-model of the systems engineering process.
• Strong interdisciplinary problem-solving skills.

Senior Principal DevOps Software Engineer

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a STEM-related discipline with a minimum of 8 years of experience (or Master’s with 6 years, or PhD with 4 years).
• U.S. citizenship with an active Secret clearance; ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI clearance.
• Experience with software DevOps for both software and hardware integration.
• Proficiency in CI/CD best practices, automated builds/tests, quality gates, and CI tools (e.g., Jenkins administration and pipeline development).
• Experience with network engineering (TCP/IP, VLAN, network protocols).
• Knowledge of Windows and Linux operating systems.
• Experience in documentation and process development.
• Experience maintaining and administering Git version control systems.
• Familiarity with the V-model of the systems engineering process.
• Strong interdisciplinary problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Top Secret/SCI security clearance.
• Software development experience.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and immutable OS.
• System administration experience.
• Experience with GitHub, SonarQube, and Sonatype Nexus.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, and/or Rancher.
• Ability to work independently and solve complex problems.
• Experience with data analytics.
• Experience setting up networks using routers, switches, firewalls, and troubleshooting physical/virtual networks.
• Scripting experience (Python, MATLAB, JavaScript).
• Experience with Atlassian tools (Jira/Confluence).
• Knowledge of system architecture and SIGINT operations.

Pay

• Principal DevOps Software Engineer: $114,000 – $171,000 per year.
• Senior Principal DevOps Software Engineer: $142,200 – $213,400 per year.

Base salary offers consider experience, education, skills, and market conditions. Additional compensation may include overtime, shift differentials, discretionary bonuses, and long-term incentives for eligible roles. Northrop Grumman provides health insurance, life and disability coverage, a savings plan, paid holidays, and paid time off (PTO).

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Savings plan.
• Company-paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation/personal business.
• Annual bonuses tied to individual and company performance.
• Long-term incentives for eligible roles (e.g., Vice President or Director positions).