AI Software Engineer – Level 3

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE:
Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START:
No

CLEARANCE TYPE:
None

TRAVEL:
Yes, 10% of the Time

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.

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.

• 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 δ‑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 ensure robust and adaptive spacecraft operations (including 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 develop systems for a variety of spacecraft using current technologies and others yet to come. We seek team members who are enthusiastic, resilient, and possess 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.

• 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 will work a 9/80 schedule, with every other Friday off.

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

• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government DoD Top‑Secret (TS) security clearance and Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) approval/access within a reasonable period of time.
• U.S. citizenship is required.
• Level 3 (Principal):
  Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 5 years of relevant AI engineering experience (or an additional 4+ years in lieu of a degree);
  Master’s degree with a minimum of 3 years of relevant AI engineering experience;
  PhD with a minimum of 1 year of relevant AI engineering experience.
• Level 4 (Sr Principal):
  Bachelor’s degree with a…