Sr. Principal Software Assessment Engineer (AHT)

About the role

At Northrop Grumman, employees work on revolutionary systems that impact lives worldwide and help shape history. The company’s pioneering spirit has driven advancements from the first trans‑Atlantic flight to stealth bombers and moon landings. Northrop Grumman Defense Systems (NGDS) is seeking a Secure Access Enablement Engineer for the DAF CLOUDworks program at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

Responsibilities

• Operate independently and serve as the direct interface between DoD security authorities—including the Designated Authorizing Official (DAO) and other Authorizing Officials (AOs)—and industry partners working under Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements.
• Ensure that all OTA‑contracted users, devices, and services are securely provisioned onto classified cloud platforms while maintaining full compliance with RMF, STIG, and DISA requirements.
• Support the rapidly growing DAF CLOUDworks secure cloud program, which encompasses 10+ teams focused on information security, infrastructure development, and cloud migration.
• Contribute to operations and sustainment, and to modifying and enhancing offerings to implement new requirements, enhance functionality, increase efficiency, or lower operating/deployment costs.
• Develop and maintain good working relationships with internal and external stakeholders as an effective communicator and problem solver.
• Travel approximately 10% of the time.

Qualifications

• One of the following education/experience combinations:
  • High school diploma with 12 years of relevant experience
  • Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field with 8+ years of experience
  • Master’s degree in a STEM field with 6+ years of experience
  • PhD in a STEM field with 4+ years of experience
• Active Department of Defense Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance.
• Able to obtain IAT Level II certification per DoD 8570.01 (e.g., CompTIA SecurityX or CompTIA Security+) within 60 days of start date.
• Extensive experience serving as the primary autonomous conduit between government security officials (including the DAO) and multiple OTA partners on classified cloud projects.
• Deep expertise with RMF, STIG/SRG compliance, ACAS, SCAP, eMASS, XACTA, and Zero‑Trust/SASE architectures.
• Expertise with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and languages including Ansible, Terraform, Bicep, ARM templates, Puppet, and Pulumi.
• Proven record designing, implementing, and governing large‑scale onboarding programs for classified cloud environments while maintaining independent decision authority.
• Leadership experience managing a team of liaison engineers and contractors, fostering a culture of self‑directed execution.

• CompTIA SecurityX or CompTIA Security+ certification or IAT Level II equivalent per DoD 8570.01.
• Ability to serve as the senior autonomous point of contact for multiple AOs and the DAO; shape policy and escalation procedures enterprise‑wide.
• Oversee the full OTA onboarding portfolio, setting standards and ensuring each partner adheres to the same independent, auditable process.
• Ability to own the risk‑management posture for the entire onboarding program and influence DAO‑level risk‑acceptance decisions.
• Ability to author concise risk assessments, POA&M updates, and DAO/AO briefing packages.
• Hands‑on experience deploying digital infrastructure in an automated fashion.
• Kubernetes expertise.

Skills

• RMF, STIG/SRG compliance
• ACAS, SCAP, eMASS, XACTA
• Zero‑Trust/SASE architectures
• Infrastructure as Code (Ansible, Terraform, Bicep, ARM templates, Puppet, Pulumi)
• Kubernetes
• Risk assessment, POA&M development, briefing package creation
• Stakeholder communication and relationship management
• Leadership and team management

Benefits

• Relocation assistance may be available.
• Health insurance coverage.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Savings plan.
• Company‑paid holidays.
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

Pay

• Salary range: $129,300.00 – $193,900.00 (base pay).
• Eligibility for overtime, shift differential, and discretionary bonus.
• Annual bonuses reward individual contributions and share in company results.
• Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives.