Staff Software Lead/Architect (Level 5)

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.

Northrop Grumman’s Space Sector is seeking a Staff Software Lead/Architect (Level 5) to join our team of highly qualified, diverse professionals within the Western Region Software Engineering directorate. This position is located onsite in Redondo Beach, CA. The Staff Software Lead/Architect will lead the architecture, design, roadmap development, and system modeling for a containerized software platform supporting a space mission planning system. The solution will be cloud‑deployed, integrate with Kafka as the backend data source, and be implemented in Java, Python, or C++.

*Please be aware that this position is contingent upon capturing program award(s) and obtaining and maintaining associated business and/or customer funding. Furthermore, this position is contingent upon the candidate obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company. Continued employment thereafter will be subject to maintenance at the level of clearance and program access required for the position in the future.

Job responsibilities of the Staff Software Lead/Architect (Level 5) include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Support the architecture definition for the integration of existing and new capabilities for a containerized, cloud‑deployed mission planning system. 
• Develop and maintain the technical roadmap, aligning architecture decisions with product and program milestones. 
• Design integration patterns between application services and Kafka for streaming and event‑driven data processing. 
• Create architecture models and documentation using CAMEO (e.g., sequence diagrams, component diagrams) to communicate designs to stakeholders. 
• Collaborate with product owners, systems engineers, and developers to refine requirements into scalable technical designs. 
• Define non‑functional requirements (performance, reliability, security, scalability, observability). 
• Review and guide implementation in Java, Python, and/or C++ to ensure alignment with architecture and coding standards. 
• Establish and enforce architectural standards, patterns, and best practices (e.g., microservices vs modular monolith, API design, event‑driven architecture). 
• Support CI/CD pipeline design and DevSecOps practices for cloud‑hosted, containerized deployments. 
• Perform design and code reviews with a focus on reliability, testability, and maintainability. 
• Participate in risk identification and mitigation related to architecture and technology choices.
• Demonstrated ability to produce clear **architecture models and documentation**, such as:  (Component diagrams, sequence diagrams, …)
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders. 

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline with 12+ years of software engineering experience, or a Master’s degree in a STEM discipline with 10+ years of stated experience, or a Ph.D. in a STEM discipline with 8+ years of stated experience.

• Must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance at time of application, with the ability and willingness to obtain Special Program Access within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company.

• Strong programming skills in at least one of the following: Java, Python, or C++.

• Prior experience designing and implementing distributed systems.

• Prior leadership experience as a software architect, lead engineer, or comparable technical leadership role.

• Experience designing and deploying cloud applications, including event‑driven architectures, microservices, and Kafka‑based solutions.

• Familiarity with CI/CD and modern DevSecOps practices (e.g., automated testing, container image scanning, infrastructure as code).

• Experience with Kafka or other asynchronous communication protocols.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Active U.S. Government TS/SCI clearance

• Solid understanding of software design principles and patterns (e.g., data‑driven design, loosely coupled design, domain‑driven design).

• Experience architecting and deploying applications to at least one major cloud platform (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), including use of managed services where appropriate.

• Experience designing systems for space mission planning or other near real‑time planning and scheduling domains.

• Experience with stream processing frameworks (e.g., Kafka Streams) or event‑sourcing/CQRS patterns.

• Experience modeling complex systems using UAF, UML, SysML, or similar formal modeling notations.

• Knowledge of distributed system concerns, such as blue/green or canary deployments for cloud applications and fault tolerance.

• Experience with API design (REST, gRPC, GraphQL) and contract‑first development (e.g., OpenAPI, protobuf).

• Experience with infrastructure as code (e.g., Helm, Terraform, CloudFormation) for repeatable deployment of cloud and Kubernetes resources.

• Background in security for cloud and containerized systems, including authentication/authorization, secrets management, network segmentation, and compliance considerations.

• Hands‑on experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Podman, Kubernetes).

*Please be aware that this position is contingent upon capturing program award(s) and obtaining and maintaining associated business and/or customer funding. Furthermore, this position is contingent upon the candidate obtaining final clearances and program access(es) within a reasonable period of time as determined by the company. Continued employment thereafter will be subject to maintenance at the level of clearance and program access required for the position in the future.

Curious about all the exciting developments with the Northrop Grumman Space Sector? Click the link below:

https://www.northropgrumman.com/space.

Working at Northrop Grumman is more than just a paycheck. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards and benefits package designed to help you thrive at work and in life. For more information on our Total Rewards package, please visit our Total Rewards site: Northrop Grumman Total Rewards.

As a full-time employee of Northrop Grumman, you are eligible for:

-Medical, Dental & Vision coverage

-401k

-Educational Assistance

-Life Insurance

-Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions

-Paid Time Off

-Health & Wellness Resources

-Employee Discounts

-Flexible Schedules: for example, the ability to work a 9/80 work schedule, which allows an employee to work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday and take every other Friday off of work.

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Primary Level Salary Range: $177,000.00 - $265,600.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.