Sentinel Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer

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 Defense Systems is seeking a Principal Software Engineer. This position will be located in Roy, Utah and will support the Sentinel program.

Core Technical Skills

• Python proficiency – writing clean, testable code; familiarity with virtual environments, packaging, and type hints
• Embedded/hardware interfaces – UART, SPI, I²C, CAN, USB, JTAG, GPIO, PWM, ADC/DAC
• Real-time operating systems (RTOS) or bare-metal development basics
• Hardware description/validation tools – Oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, power supplies, test rigs
• Firmware build systems – Make, CMake for cross-compilation
• Version control – Git (branching, sub-modules, pull-request workflow)
• CI/CD for embedded – Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) runners

Software-Hardware Integration

• Designing and implementing drivers/APIs that expose hardware functionality to Python
• Using communication protocols (Modbus, MQTT, OPC?UA) to bridge software services and devices
• Managing bootloaders, firmware upgrades, and configuration flashing

Testing & Validation

• Unit/Component testing – pytest, unittest, hypothesis for pure-Python modules
• Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing – automated scripts that program devices, run stimulus, capture response, and assert results
• System-level testing – Robot Framework, TestStand, or custom Python harnesses that coordinate multiple subsystems
• Automated measurement – pyvisa / pyserial to drive test equipment and log data
• Coverage & static analysis – coverage.py, pylint, mypy

DevOps & Deployment

• Containerizing test environments (Docker) for simulation and host-side tools
• Managing artifact repositories for firmware binaries (Artifactory, Nexus)
• Using over-the-air (OTA) or in-field update pipelines

Methodologies

• Agile/Scrum or Kanban for cross-functional teams
• Familiarity with the V-model or ISO?26262-style verification flows in safety-critical domains

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical debugging – ability to trace issues from software logs down to signal integrity on a PCB
• Clear communication with electrical engineers, firmware developers, and QA testers
• Documentation discipline – hardware interface specs, test procedures, and release notes

Position Benefits

• Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
• 401k
• Educational Assistance
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions
• Paid Time Off
• Health & Wellness Resources
• Employee Discounts

This positions standard work schedule is a 9/80. The 9/80 schedule allows employees who work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday to take every other Friday off.

Basic Qualifications:

• T03- Bachelors in Science with 5 years of experience, Masters in Science with 3 years of experience, PhD with 1 years of experience or 04 additional years in lieu of a degree
• Must have an active U.S. Government DoD Secret security clearance at time of application, current and within scope, with an ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) approval within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the company to meet its business need
• Experience with Agile and working in a cross-function Scrum team.
• Working knowledge of Object-Oriented Analysis and Design principles
• Familiarity with Model-Based Systems Engineering languages (SysML/UML) and concepts
• Experience developing web-based applications on a cloud-based platform.
• Experience deploying containerized applications in a Kubernetes framework.
• Experienced developing with Javascript, Typescript and React,
• Adept at working across the full stack, contributing to frontend UI/UX, backend APIs, and database design.
• Experience with RESTful API design and implementation.
• Proficiency in front-end development technologies including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, and Express.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Current Special Program Access (SAP)
• Experience with modern web technologies, virtual machines and containerized applications
• Experience with the Atlassian Tool Suite including Jira and Confluence
• Proficient with DOORS, Cameo with the ability to write and decompose system requirements
• Ability to evaluate risks and tradeoffs and present solution options to management
• IASAE III (e.g., CCSP, CISSP-ISSEP, CISSP-ISSAP) certification
• IAT II (e.g., Security+, CISSP) certification
• Understanding of OSI Open Systems Interconnection model and the impact of each level to the design of a network architecture.
• Experience developing web-based applications on a cloud-based platform.
• Experience deploying containerized applications in a Kubernetes framework.
• Experience using Model Based Systems Engineering to model software functions using Cameo.
• Experience using Unified Modeling Language to document software design using Cameo.
• Knowledge of NIST and ISO standards.
• Experience with other languages like C++, C#, and Python is a plus.