Manager Software Engineering 2

Northrop Grumman • Linthicum Heights, MD

2d • $161,100 - $241,700

About The Position

The Software Engineering Manager 2 will lead a team of individual contributors developing software for a cryogenic superconducting quantum computer. The manager will be aligned with one or more technical areas, such as quantum control and firmware, instrumentation and lab software, job orchestration, verification and validation, process monitoring, or platform reliability. Approximately 80% of the role is hands-on technical contribution through architecture, design, implementation, integration, troubleshooting, and technical reviews. The remaining 20% focuses on functional management, including staffing, performance management, employee development, workload planning, and coordination with physics, hardware, systems, test, and operations teams. The role combines hands-on engineering depth with leadership to deliver reliable, secure, maintainable software for timing-critical quantum control and cryogenic operations.

The manager will lead 8–12 technical staff and work with program management to track execution and provide technical leadership to the team or pod. Administrative responsibilities include staffing, performance evaluation, career development, and salary planning.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related STEM discipline with 8 or more years of relevant software engineering experience; a master’s degree in a STEM discipline with 6 or more years; or a Ph.D. with 4 or more years.
• Demonstrated experience designing, developing, integrating, and troubleshooting complex software systems using languages such as C, C++, Rust, or Python.
• Technical expertise in at least one relevant area: real-time or embedded control, distributed systems and orchestration, instrumentation and data acquisition, automated verification, process monitoring, DevOps, or SRE.
• Experience leading software engineers through technical planning, design reviews, code reviews, integration, testing, and delivery.
• Ability to translate system requirements and hardware constraints into software architectures, interfaces, implementation plans, and verification approaches.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to collaborate across software, systems engineering, physics, hardware, test, cybersecurity, and program leadership teams.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical discipline.
• Prior experience as an engineering manager, technical lead, product owner, or integrated product team lead with responsibility for employee development and technical execution.
• Experience with quantum computing, superconducting qubit control, cryogenic systems, RF electronics, pulse sequencing, calibration, or real-time feedback systems.
• Experience integrating laboratory instruments and control hardware using protocols or frameworks such as SCPI, VISA, gRPC, message queues, or vendor-provided SDKs.
• Experience with production engineering practices, including CI/CD, automated testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, configuration management, containers, Kubernetes, observability, incident response, and release management.
• Experience delivering software in a regulated, mission-critical, high-reliability, or controlled engineering environment, including requirements traceability, cybersecurity, quality assurance, and formal verification practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of 8–12 technical staff.
• Contribute technically through architecture, design, implementation, integration, troubleshooting, and technical reviews.
• Work with program management to track execution and provide technical leadership to the team or pod.
• Support staffing, performance evaluation, career development, and salary planning.
• Plan workload and coordinate with physics, hardware, systems, test, and operations teams.
• Deliver reliable, secure, maintainable software for timing-critical quantum control and cryogenic operations.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage
• Life and disability insurance
• Savings plan
• Company-paid holidays
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business
• Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager