Principal/ Sr. Principal Data Center Electronics Engineer

Northrop Grumman•San Diego, CA

3d•$114,000 - $213,400•Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is looking to add a Principal/Sr. Principal Data Center Electronics Engineer to their team in San Diego (Rancho Bernardo). The candidate should be a self-starter familiar with working in an Integrated Product Team construct. This role involves installing, configuring, troubleshooting, and maintaining data center infrastructure, including servers, networking gear, storage hardware, and power distribution units. It also includes configuring virtual environments, capacity planning, developing automation scripts, leading incident and change management, and ensuring security and compliance. The selected candidate will work full-time, on-site, with potential travel up to 25%.

Requirements

Principal: Bachelor’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline from an accredited university and 5 years of related professional/military experience in Engineering, or Master's degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline from an accredited university and 3 years of related professional/military experience.
Sr. Principal: Bachelor’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline from an accredited university and 8 years of related professional/military experience in Engineering, or Master's degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) discipline from an accredited university and 6 years of related professional/military experience
Hands-on experience in data center operations, server hardware, and networking.
Strong knowledge of system administration of Windows operating system (Windows Server) with focus on Active Directory and Group Policy Management and Linux (RHEL)
Strong knowledge of virtualization platforms (VMware ESXi, Red Hat OpenShift) and VDI
Experience with and proficiency in scripting (PowerShell, Bash, Python).
Exposure to or knowledge of IaC tools (Terraform, Ansible)
Familiarity with monitoring tools (Grafana) and ticketing system (JIRA).
Must have an active US Government Top-Secret Clearance (with a background investigation within the past 6 years or enrolled into Continuous Evaluation).
Ability to obtain and maintain US Government SCI clearance
Must have the ability to obtain and maintain Special Access Program (SAP) clearance, within a reasonable amount of time as determined by business needs.
U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.

Nice To Haves

Certification(s) in Cisco CCNA/CCNP, Network+ CE/Security+ CE, CEH, CASP+, CISM, and/or CISSP
Experience with Cisco UCS, Cisco networking devices, and networking
Knowledge of storage technologies (NetApp)
Knowledge of containers (Docker) and container management (Kubernetes)
Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines in Gitlab in support of IaC
Active Top Secret DoD Clearance with previous or current program access

Responsibilities

Install, configure, troubleshoot, and maintain servers (Dell servers), networking gear (Cisco servers and Cisco network devices), data storage hardware (NetApp storage solutions), and power distribution units.
Configure and manage virtualized environments using VMware vCenter and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
Monitor resource utilization, forecast growth, and recommend upgrades or consolidations.
Develop, deploy, and maintain robust automated deployment scripts to streamline infrastructure provisioning through Infrastructure as Code (IaC).
Implement and manage infrastructure configuration using tools such as Ansible or Terraform.
Lead Tier 2/3 support to end users and Engineering Product Teams (IPTs), perform root cause analysis, and document remediation steps which could include defect resolution or system enhancement efforts.
Execute hardware refreshes, firmware upgrades, and network architecture.
Maintain comprehensive documentation for COTS hardware/software, including configuration matrices, release procedures, and system compatibility mapping.
Apply hardening standards, conduct vulnerability scans, and support audits to maintain ATO.
Work closely with the tenants, Tenant Solutions Architecture, and Lab Ops to align physical resources with virtual workloads across all environments.