Principal Data Engineer/Sr. Principal Data Engineer

Northrop Grumman • Palmdale, CA

1d • $114,000 - $213,400 • Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is hiring a Principal Data Engineer or Sr. Principal Data Engineer for its Data Science Engineering Team. The position supports manufacturing data and digitized processes, establishing data repositories, models, architecture, integration patterns, and services that connect engineering and manufacturing data. The engineer will set technical direction for greenfield manufacturing-data solutions and collaborate with technical and operational stakeholders in a proactive, team-oriented environment.

The role requires on-site support in Palmdale, California, and may also be filled in El Segundo, California. Candidates must be able to work first shift (listed as 5:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.), second shift (4:12 p.m.–2:42 a.m.), and/or another schedule as needed; times may vary. Travel of at least 10% is required. The position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret or Top Secret clearance and Program Special access within a reasonable period, as determined by the company.

Requirements

• For Principal Data Engineer: Bachelor’s degree and 4 years of technical and/or engineering experience, or Master’s degree and 3 years of engineering experience, or Ph.D. and 0 years of experience.
• For Sr. Principal Data Engineer: Bachelor’s degree and 8 years of engineering experience, or Master’s degree and 6 years of engineering experience, or Ph.D. and 4 years of engineering experience.
• Advanced experience using SQL, programming or automation, and relational data modeling to deliver production data products, applications, or platforms.
• Experience defining and owning data architecture, including repositories, schemas, interfaces, integration patterns, metadata, lineage, data quality, and maintainability.
• Demonstrated success delivering greenfield data solutions when platforms, standards, requirements, data contracts, or system endpoints were incomplete or did not exist.
• Experience designing pipelines and integration approaches for complex data from multiple independently managed sources.
• Experience establishing technical direction for ambiguous data problems and driving alignment across technical and operational stakeholders.
• Ability to communicate architecture, performance, risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs to senior managers and technical stakeholders.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret or Top Secret clearance and Program Special access within a reasonable period, as determined by the company.
• Ability to work first shift (5:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.), second shift (4:12 p.m.–2:42 a.m.), and/or another schedule; times may vary.
• Ability to travel at least 10%.
• Ability to work at a workstation on a computer or similar device for up to 10 hours or the duration of a shift, and occasionally stand, bend, or kneel for extended periods.

Nice To Haves

• STEM degree in a related field.
• Experience establishing data architecture across manufacturing measurement, equipment, sensor, process, product, quality, engineering, program, and enterprise-system domains.
• Experience aligning independently managed structures through authoritative sources, shared identifiers, mappings, semantic models, relationships, stewardship, and traceability.
• Experience designing scalable approaches for high-volume, high-frequency, time-dependent, spatial, or otherwise complex technical data.
• Experience developing data services, APIs, or application interfaces that enable domain teams to provide and maintain contextual data.
• Experience with Python, Microsoft SQL Server, Apache Airflow, Git-based development, automated testing, CI/CD, monitoring, or production operations. Python and Airflow are preferred; comparable programming and orchestration experience is acceptable.
• Experience incorporating relevant information from engineering documents, work instructions, or other unstructured technical sources without making document parsing the primary solution focus.
• Experience leading architecture reviews, mentoring technical contributors, and raising data-engineering maturity across an organization.
• Experience partnering with enterprise organizations while independently defining and advancing local manufacturing-data needs when enterprise support or platforms are immature.
• Active U.S. Government Secret or higher security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Establish repositories, data models, and integration patterns for manufacturing data and the technical context needed to support digitized processes.
• Define architecture, processes, and interfaces for engineering and manufacturing teams to provide, validate, relate, and maintain contextual data.
• Align independently managed data structures using authoritative sources, shared identifiers, mappings, semantics, relationships, and traceability.
• Design resilient pipelines and data services integrating manufacturing measurement, equipment, sensor, process, product-location, quality, engineering, and enterprise-system data.
• Set technical direction for greenfield manufacturing-data solutions and communicate strategy, alternatives, risks, dependencies, and outcomes to senior leaders and technical stakeholders.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Savings plan.
• Company-paid holidays.
• Paid time off for vacation and/or personal business.
• Employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus, depending on the position.
• Vice President or Director employees may be eligible for Long Term Incentives.

What This Job Offers

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