Principal Devops Engineer

Sr. Principal DevOps EngineerRELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes CLEARANCE TYPE: Top Secret TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the TimeDescription 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. This position description does not represent a current opening but may be used to identify candidates with skills and experience for positions within Northrop Grumman that frequently become available. Candidates who express an interest may be considered for future positions at Northrop Grumman.Northrop Grumman's Space Systems Sector is known for pushing the boundaries of innovation, redefining engineering capabilities, and driving advances in various sciences through cutting-edge technology. Our team is chartered with providing the skills, and innovative technologies to develop, design, produce, and sustain optimized product lines across the sector while providing a decisive advantage to the warfighter. Come be a part of our mission.We are seeking a Sr. Principal DevOps Engineer to lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of our CI/CD pipelines and runtime environments. You will own our GitLab-based delivery platform, drive automation across build/test/deploy, and mentor engineers while partnering closely with development, quality assurance, and operations teams. This position will be based in Aurora, CO. Key ResponsibilitiesOwn and evolve GitLab CI/CD pipelines for multiple services and environments.Architect, implement, and maintain robust CI/CD workflows (build, test, security, deployment, rollback).Design and maintain Docker image build processes (Dockerfiles, multi-stage builds, image scanning, registries).Support and optimize containerized runtime environments, including Docker Swarm and/or other orchestration platforms.Define and enforce branching strategies, merge request workflows, and release practices in GitLab.Integrate quality gates into pipelines (unit tests, integration tests, Cucumber/BDD, static analysis, security scanning).Monitor pipeline performance and reliability; identify bottlenecks and drive continuous improvement.Implement configuration-as-code for pipeline definitions and deployment workflows (GitOps mindset).Collaborate with development and QA to ensure safe, repeatable, and observable releases.Mentor and coach engineers on DevOps practices, tooling, and automation patterns.Basic QualificationsBachelor's degree with 8+ years of relevant experience, OR Master's degree with 6+ years of relevant experience is required. 4 additional years of experience is required in lieu of a degree.Must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with the ability to obtain and maintain SCI approval/access.Experience as a DevOps Engineer (or similar), including demonstrated senior-level responsibilities.Hands-on experience with GitLab and GitLab CI (pipeline YAML, runners, environments, variables).Experience with Docker (image builds, runtime configuration, registries, best practices).Solid understanding of source control and release management (branching, tagging, versioning, hotfix flows).Strong scripting/automation skills (e.g., Bash, Python, or similar).Experience working in Linux environments.Familiarity with Agile ways of working and collaborating via tools like Jira/Confluence.Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate and influence technical direction.Demonstrated team player mindset and experience mentoring other engineers.Preferred Qualifications:Bachelors' STEM degree is highly preferred.Experience deploying and managing applications on Docker Swarm or similar orchestration platforms.Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Ansible.Experience integrating Cucumber (or other BDD frameworks) into CI/CD pipelines.Experience implementing security and compliance checks in CI/CD (SAST/DAST, dependency scanning, container scanning).Knowledge of observability tooling (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/EFK) and release monitoring.Background in pipeline optimization (parallelization, caching, artifact management, cost/performance tuning).Experience building and deploying applications in Rust and/or C++, including integrating Cargo or CMake workflows into GitLab CI.Primary Level Salary Range: $142,200.00 - $213,400.00 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.