Sr. Principal​/Software Developer Lead

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE:
Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START:
Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE:
Secret

TRAVEL:
No

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 Defense Systems (NGDS) is looking for a Senior Principal Software Engineer or Staff Software Engineer based out of Manhattan Beach, CA.Our Team works on state-of-the‑art Mission Planning systems. This is a role in a large program that will support the full software product lifecycle in an Agile Scrum framework: requirement definition, estimation, implementation, unit testing, integration testing, SW/HW integration, test documentation, supporting test events, and customer support.

The ideal candidate will be a cross-functional team player, willing to take on challenges, that collaborate with internal and external teams and that is driven to provide solutions to internal and external customers.

• Lead cross‑functional Agile/Scrum teams in designing, developing, testing, and delivering mission‑critical software across multiple contracts, ensuring adherence to software standards and architecture.
• Own and improve CI/CD pipelines, build processes, and environment setups (Development, Test, Build) to enable fast, reliable software deployments.
• Oversee software installation, integration, and verification activities, including Windows installers, deployment artifacts, and requirements‑to‑test traceability (e.g., VCRM, test plans, procedures, reports).
• Analyze build and test results, resolve technical issues across teams and with customers, refine testing and integration approaches to manage and improve product quality.
• Lead software risk identification and remediation, support program reviews and provide technical support to ECPs and proposals (e.g., estimates, scope, and technical approach).
• Collaborate with systems engineering, program management, and other functional teams to meet company quality standards and contract‑specified cost, schedule, and technical objectives
• Mentor team members, promote automation and continuous improvement.

All work must be performed on‑site in Manhattan Beach, CA

• Sr. Principal Software Engineer – Level 4:
  Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or closely related STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline from an accredited university and 8 years of related work experience, or a Master’s Degree and 6 years of related work experience, or 4 years of related work experience with a PhD.
• Staff Software Engineer – Level 5:
  Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or closely related STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline from an accredited university and 12 years of related work experience, or a Master’s Degree and 10 years of related work experience, or 8 years of related work experience with a PhD.
• US Citizenship with a current DoD Secret clearance (adjudicated within the last 5 years) and ability to obtain Top Secret and SAP access.
• Experience with Agile…