
Senior Principal Software Engineer
Real job — pulled straight from Northrop Grumman’s careers page · Verified May 19, 2026 · No reposts.
Job description
Northrop Grumman is hiring a Senior Principal Software Engineer — a full-time, based in El Segundo, CA role ($142k–$213k). Apply directly on Northrop Grumman's careers page below.
Sr Principal Engineer - Software
Location: United States-California-El Segundo, United States-California-San Diego
Time Type: Full time
Job Description
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be availableCLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: NoCLEARANCE TYPE: Top SecretTRAVEL: NoDescription
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.Responsibilities:
Engineer enterprise solutions that align with best practices to support mission critical objectives.
Work on 1-3 mid- to large-scale projects concurrently, assigned from program and internal leadership.
Participate in regular project design and incremental status meetings.
Collaborate with different teams across the program to discuss, analyze or resolve usability issues and work on projects.
Provide effective communication across multi-functional teams, stakeholders and end-users.
Basic Qualifications:
Senior Principal level: Bachelor’s Degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics) discipline and 8 years of related engineering experience; OR a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline and 6 years of related engineering experience OR a PhD degree in a STEM discipline and 4 years of related engineering experience
Your ability to transfer and maintain the final adjudicated Top Secret clearance & SCI (DoD must be in-scope or enrolled in Continuous Evaluation) and any program access(es) required for the position within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Company.
Enterprise Integration Patterns (EIP): Proficiency with Spring Integration or Apache Camel to build robust adapters and message routers.
Java 21+ Proficiency, microservice development and front-end interfaces
Experience with Observability technologies, health indicators, and dashboarding including Prometheus and Grafana
Experience with Apache Niagara Files (NiFi)
Deep knowledge of data flow technologies and networking, including UDP, TCP, and hybrid protocols
Hybrid S3 Integration: Ability to develop in Java 21+ using the AWS SDK for Java v2 for scenarios where a standalone microservice is more performant than a NiFi processor.
Dashboard Development:
Backend: Java 21+/Spring Boot service with a time-series or document-oriented store (e.g., MongoDB or Elasticsearch) for status history.
Frontend: Proficiency in Angular, React or Vue.js to build the custom "web app" for status display.
Real-time Updates: Implementation of WebSockets (via Spring WebSocket) or Server-Sent Events (SSE) to push prober status changes to the dashboard instantly.
Preferred Qualifications:
Active SCI and SAP security clearance.
Java 21+ Mastery: Leverage Virtual Threads (Project Loom) for high-concurrency probing and file processing tasks.
Protocol Translation: Deep experience with Protobuf (Google Protocol Buffers), JAXB/Jackson for XML (UCI) processing, and JSON schema validation.
Asynchronous Messaging: Mastery of JMS (Java Message Service) specifically with ActiveMQ Classic. Candidates should understand connection pooling, message persistence, and dead-letter queue (DLQ) management.
Resiliency Patterns: Implementation of Circuit Breakers (e.g., Resilience4j) to handle "Relay" failures without cascading into the main effort.
Data Pipeline Orchestration: Advanced knowledge of Apache NiFi. Looking for ability to design custom FlowFiles, use ListS3/FetchS3, and implement complex routing logic.
Containerization: Proficiency in Docker/OCI image optimization and deploying standalone Spring Boot apps in resource-constrained environments.
Testing: Mastery of Test containers for local integration testing of S3 (LocalStack) and ActiveMQ brokers.
Stream Processing: Familiarity with Project Reactor or Java Streams to process large file metadata efficiently without memory overflows.
Custom Observability: Experience extending Spring Boot Actuator to expose non-standard health indicators and custom metrics via Micrometer.
Schema-Driven Monitoring: Ability to design Avro or Protobuf schemas for transmitting custom observability data to ensure cross-org compatibility.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the salary for Senior Principal Software Engineer at Northrop Grumman?
The estimated salary range for Senior Principal Software Engineer at Northrop Grumman is $142,000 - $213,000 USD per year.
What skills are required for Senior Principal Software Engineer at Northrop Grumman?
The required skills for Senior Principal Software Engineer at Northrop Grumman include: Java, Microservices, Prometheus, Grafana, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Angular, React, Vue.js, JSON, Docker, Spring Boot.
What is the seniority level for Senior Principal Software Engineer at Northrop Grumman?
Senior Principal Software Engineer at Northrop Grumman is a Senior / Principal level position.
How do I apply for Senior Principal Software Engineer at Northrop Grumman?
You can view the full description and apply for Senior Principal Software Engineer at Northrop Grumman on EchoJobs: https://echojobs.io/job/northrop-grumman-sr-principal-engineer-software-gmt61.