Sr. Staff Software Engineer (Full Stack Software Discipline Lead) at Northrop Grumman

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: Yes, 25% 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.

The Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Sector (NGAS) Software Engineering Center of Technical Excellence (CoTE) is creating an Everything as Code (XaC) ecosystem powered by an AI augmented workforce and a resilient software factory. Our mission is to deliver mission effects at the speed of relevance by continuously evolving the tools, processes, training, and metrics that make the software engineering ecosystem efficient, measurable, and future ready. As a leader in the CoTE team you will be at the heart of this transformation, driving relentless improvement and ensuring our software capabilities not only meet but anticipate emerging challenges - and turn them into strategic opportunities.

The Software Engineering CoTE organization is seeking a Sr. Staff Engineer Software to lead the Full Stack Software Discipline area. This key leadership role reports to the Aeronautics Systems (AS) Software Systems Capabilities Director in the Software Engineering CoTE organization.

The Full Stack Software Discipline Lead is the senior technical authority for the governance of the tools, processes, training, and performance metric ecosystem that enables NGAS teams to design, develop, and sustain a wide range of software technologies that are used in subsystems such as, but not limited to ground based mission planning, command and control, data dissemination, and training software.

This position supports all the Aeronautics Systems business divisions, at all of the Aeronautics Systems primary geographic sites including: Melbourne, FL; Palmdale, CA; San Diego, CA; and South Bay (El Segundo / Redondo Beach / Manhattan Beach), CA; Oklahoma City, OK. This position is geographically flexible and can be based out of any one of the 5 locations listed above.

The Lead does not own day to day coding or system integration; instead, the role architects, sustains, and continuously improves the tools, process, training, and metrics creating an enabling environment that product teams use.

Core Responsibilities include:

• Provide leadership and define strategic vision for technical priorities within Software discipline, aligned to long-term sector strategy.
• Regularly interface with EI&E discipline leads to identify program needs and close gaps in engineering tools, processes, digital solutions, and technical training.
• Lead the development, deployment, and sustainment of sector-wide engineering tools, standardized processes, digital solutions, and technical training ensuring they are relevant, scalable, and interoperable across programs.
• Build and sustain a strong Software Community of Practice (CoP), ensuring alignment of sub-CoPs, strategies, and priorities while fostering collaboration across programs and sub-disciplines.
• Act as a trusted advisor to help resolve technical performance shortfalls through root cause analysis, corrective action planning, long-term verification of improvement.
• Capture, share, and embed lessons learned and best practices across programs to continuously raise the bar for technical performance.

Core Technical Competencies:

• Cloud & Distributed Computing: Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, OpenStack), containerization (Docker, OCI), Kubernetes, service mesh (Istio), CI/CD (Jenkins, GitLab, Azure DevOps), IaC (Ansible).
• Geospatial Engineering: GIS data formats (DTED, GeoTIFF, OGC standards), CesiumJS, Web GL, map tiling services, spatial database (PostGIS), coordinate system transformations, terrain rendering pipelines.
• Engineering Foundations: Human-Machine interface, Human Factors Engineering, and CI-integrated security scanning.
• Software Construction: Java, Web Frameworks, UI/UX Standards.
• Human Factors Engineering (HFE): MIL STD 1472, task analysis methodologies, workload assessment tools, usability testing frameworks (Selenium, Cypress), cognitive load metrics, UI design systems, accessibility (WCAG).
• Interoperability Standards: Universal Command Interface (UCI), STANAG 4586, NATO/DoD message protocols, API design, and data format standards.
• Cross-Domain Governance: Ground systems often sit at the boundary between networks at different classification and compartment boundaries. This discipline lead drives the process for Cross-Domain Solutions (CDS), ensuring data flows securely between security enclaves without spillage.
• Cybersecurity Governance: RMF/NIST 800-53: Common software and infrastructure reuse opportunities; automated security-control assessment tools; continuous monitoring pipelines.
• Open Systems Architectures: Proficiency in OMS, Universal Command and Control Interface (UCI), and other GRA standards; ability to define and integrate interoperable service oriented components.

What You'll Achieve:

• Accelerate the process of delivering Full Stack software based subsystems, such as Ground Systems & C2 Software, Training Systems, Mission Planning, etc. by > 15% through a unified, governed tool process training ecosystem that enables early validation on high fidelity digital twins.
• Raise software engineering productivity and safety metrics across NGAS programs - by measurable via KPIs such as defect density, test coverage %, mean time to detect, and tool uptime.
• Create a vibrant, cross program Community of Practice for your discipline area that spreads best practices and lessons learned across programs, fosters increased software reuse, and improves the disciplines overall capabilities.
• Champion the tools, processes, training, and metrics for all subsystems that are primarily using full stack software technologies ensuring they remain state of the art, secure, and fully aligned with DoD strategic objectives (JADC2, Anywhere C2, multi vehicle swarm).

Our Leaders at Northrop Grumman live our values daily and encourage our teams to do the same. We do the right thing: upholding the highest ethical standards and facilitating a safe and respectful environment that attracts, retains, and inspires a diverse and engaged team. We do what we promise: holding yourself and others accountable to meet predictable and balanced results. We commit to shared success: operating as OneNG and removing barriers for our teams. Finally, We pioneer: setting a vision that shapes the future and inspires others.

Basic Qualifications:

• Must have a Bachelor's degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 14 or more years of experience in software engineering OR a Master's degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) discipline and 12 or more years of experience in software engineering OR a PhD in a STEM discipline and 9 years of software engineering experience
• Subject Matter Expert in one or more technology areas:
  • Front end client-side languages/frameworks such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React or TypeScript
  • Back-end server-side programing languages such as Python, Java, Node.js
  • API design experience such as REST, GraphQL or gRPC
  • Database knowledge in either SQL, NoSQL or MongoDB
  • Networking basics, such as HTTP or websockets
  • Cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure and containerization
• Subject Matter Expert in one or more Core Technical Competency areas:
  • Geospatial Engineering
  • Human Factors Engineering (HFE)
  • Interoperability Standards
  • Cross-Domain Governance
  • Cybersecurity Governance
  • Open Systems Architectures
• Must have an active U.S. government Secret clearance that is in-scope (granted or renewed in the last 6 years) and eligibility for TS/SCI
• Must be able to attain and maintain Special Program Access (PAR)
• Ability to travel as needed (approx. 25%)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Subject Matter Expert in many of the follow technology areas:
  • Front end client-side languages/frameworks such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React or TypeScript
  • Back-end server-side programing languages such as Python, Java, Node.js
  • API design experience such as REST, GraphQL or gRPC
  • Database knowledge in either SQL, NoSQL or MongoDB
  • Networking basics, such as HTTP or websockets
  • Cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure and containerization
• Subject Matter Expert in most of the Core Technical Competency areas:
  • Geospatial Engineering
  • Human Factors Engineering (HFE)
  • Interoperability Standards
  • Cross-Domain Governance
  • Cybersecurity Governance . click apply for full job details