Principal​/Sr. Principal AI Software Engineer

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE:
Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START:
Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE:
Top Secret

TRAVEL:
Yes, 10% of the Time

Description

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.

This position is contingent upon contract award and the candidate verifying and/or obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company.

Expand your horizons, advance your career, and contribute to a secure future for generations. Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector invites you to bring your pioneering spirit to our collaborative teams. As an AI Software Engineer – Level 3 or 4 supporting our Space team, this role will be based at our Dulles, VA, Colorado Springs, CO, or El Segundo, CA locations. On our team, you’ll be a linchpin in missions of paramount importance, defining the art of the possible from day one.

We are looking for early to mid-career AI researchers and engineers with deep knowledge of Computer Science and a deep focus on Reinforcement Learning (RL) to design and implement intelligent autonomy algorithms for our space and aerospace programs.

Job Responsibilities

In this role you will:

• Perform Novel Algorithm R&D

• Design and implement state-of-the-art RL / SL algorithms drawn from the latest literature

• Rapidly prototype in Python/JAX/PyTorch, then port to embedded C++/CUDA

• Develop Physics-Based Autonomy to perform Mission Planning & Decision-Making

• Apply supervised learning, reinforcement learning, and other AI/ML techniques to high-fidelity astrodynamics planning and controls problems, including real-time constraint handling

• Fuse learned policies with classical GNC filters for robust guidance, navigation, and closed-loop control

• Build models that re-optimize delta-V, power, and comm- (among other) constrained timelines using neural search or differentiable optimization

• Develop AI solutions for real-time anomaly detection and response to ensuring robust and adaptive spacecraft operations. This includes developing models that detect out-of-family telemetry and select corrective actions via hierarchical or policy-gradient RL

• Lead Verification & Flight Readiness

• Lead Monte-Carlo, Processor-in-the-Loop, Hardware-in-the-Loop, and digital twin campaigns to prove safety and performance via internal standards

• Participate in the full life cycle of software development, including requirements development, modeling and design, application development, unit to CSCI testing, integration, formal system testing, release, installation, and maintenance

In this role, you will be developing systems for a variety of spacecraft using current technologies and others yet to come! We are seeking team members who have a thirst for knowledge, approach each day with optimism, and have a relentless drive to solve complex problems. Creativity and innovation are imperative for this role, because at Northrop Grumman, many of the problems we work on are impossible… until they’re not.

To be successful in this role you should have:

• Strong interest in space, national security, and related mission areas

• Be an active and integral member of your team

• Channel your enthusiasm to innovate

• Be part of a supportive team that develops and deploys technologies that matter to our national security

• Work with agility, flexibility, and collaboration to explore creative ideas

This position is 100% onsite and cannot accommodate telecommute work . This position…