Lead Test Automation Engineer - Level 4

Test Engineer Lead – Test Automation (Level
4)

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon.

We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Northrop Grumman Space Systems, Multi-Domain Operations, and Missile Defense Integration Business Unit (BU) has an exciting career opportunity for a Test Engineer Lead – Test Automation (Level
4) to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position supports the Modeling and Simulation Vistas – Threat and Advanced Simulations Development (MSV‑TASD) program and will split time between Schriever Space Force Base (SSFB) and the Northrop Grumman facility in Colorado Springs, CO.

This role requires candidates to be onsite daily with very limited remote/hybrid work available.

Position Overview:

The selected Senior Principal Test Engineer Lead will be part of the TASD Systems Team, overseeing test engineering with a primary focus on automated test design, development, and integration. This position will lead the effort to transform several software projects and their associated application suites from primarily manual test execution to a strategy that relies predominantly on automated testing.

The Test Engineer Lead will support the development and verification of TASD software products across the portfolio, including Threat Modeling and Simulation Software (TMSS), Red‑Force Objective Simulation Environment (ROSE), Missile Defense Advanced Simulation (MDASim), Threat Generator External (TGx), and the Missile Defense Space Tool (MDST). Responsibilities include designing, testing, analyzing, benchmarking, validating and verifying, documenting, automating, and integrating products for all organizations within the TASD program.

Essential Functions:

• Leading the definition and implementation of a test automation strategy and roadmap to transition multiple TASD software products from manual to automated testing.
• Creating, selecting, and/or integrating test automation frameworks and tools for unit, API/service, and UI/client‑level testing, and defining standards for their use across teams.
• Leading the design and implementation of automated regression, integration, and end‑to‑end test suites for client, client–server, and cloud‑based simulation systems.
• Creating or utilizing test tools and harnesses to support test automation (e.g., scripting, test data setup, environment orchestration) and training other test engineers in their use.
• Supporting agile software teams within the context of a larger program, including embedding automation into CI/CD pipelines and enforcing quality gates.
• Supporting the development of simulation and software architectures, including coaching software teams on building testable and test‑friendly applications (e.g., appropriate interfaces, test hooks, logging, and observability).
• Leading the test engineering team in efforts to improve product quality through rigorous testing, analysis, automation, and peer review, including identification and reduction of unreliable or inefficient tests.
• Interfacing with TASD customers and stakeholders, preparing and presenting technical briefings on test strategies, plans, status, and results.
• Defining and tracking test and quality metrics (e.g., automation coverage, defect trends, test stability) and using them to drive continuous improvement.

The selected candidate should thrive in a fast‑paced work environment with high expectations, significantly diverse assignments, and collaborative team settings across all levels.

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