Payload Flight Software Lead - Level 6

Northrop Grumman•Redondo Beach, CA

4d•$192,800 - $289,200•Onsite

About The Position

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 Payload Flight Software Lead - Level 6 to join our team. This position will be located in Redondo Beach, CA. As a Payload Flight Software Lead, you will lead the design, architecture, development, integration, test and verification of flight software solutions for embedded and real-time systems. Specifically, you will produce and maintain architectural artifacts (block diagrams, interface control documents, traceability matrices, and trade studies). You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams—including Systems Engineering, Hardware, and Integration & Test. You will analyze system capabilities to troubleshoot and resolve issues related to program intent, output requirements, data acquisition, programming methods, and control strategies. This position will include defining and architecting the system and will require close collaboration with team members of other projects within the organization for security architecture designs, as well as external partners and customers. The ideal candidate will have the ability to support the architecture, development, and lifecycle management of embedded and real-time systems. The candidate will be expected to understand system requirements, how they apply to system design, and to implement and debug software to meet defined completion criteria. The candidate will have demonstrated ability to define and evolve software architectures and possess strong troubleshooting skills for complex, integrated applications and test‑setup issues.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline with 14 years of relevant experience; or a Master's degree in a STEM discipline with 12 years of relevant experience; or a PhD in a STEM discipline with 10 years of relevant experience
Must have an active SCI access at the time of application
Experience leading a software team
Expert level proficiency in embedded C/C++ development
Extensive experience with real-time operating systems like VxWorks
Full‑cycle software development proficiency from requirements to testing
Proficiency in creating and maintaining comprehensive software documentation throughout the development lifecycle
Proficiency in bus implementation and communication protocols such as 1553 and SpaceWire

Nice To Haves

Experience with Cost Account Management (CAM)
Experience in supporting or leading proposal activities
Proficiency in writing system requirements and making key tradeoffs in code efficiency, memory, and cost
Experience working in Agile software development
Experience with software development leveraging CI/CD pipeline tools such as Jenkins

Responsibilities

Lead the design, architecture, development, integration, test and verification of flight software solutions for embedded and real-time systems.
Produce and maintain architectural artifacts (block diagrams, interface control documents, traceability matrices, and trade studies).
Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams—including Systems Engineering, Hardware, and Integration & Test.
Analyze system capabilities to troubleshoot and resolve issues related to program intent, output requirements, data acquisition, programming methods, and control strategies.
Define and architect the system.
Collaborate with team members of other projects within the organization for security architecture designs, as well as external partners and customers.
Support the architecture, development, and lifecycle management of embedded and real-time systems.
Understand system requirements, how they apply to system design, and implement and debug software to meet defined completion criteria.
Define and evolve software architectures.
Troubleshoot complex, integrated applications and test-setup issues.