Principal Engineer Data
About The Position
Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems is seeking a Principal Data Engineer with AI experience to join its team in El Segundo, California. The position is onsite, though a hybrid arrangement may be considered. The engineer will design and develop an ecosystem of interconnected business systems, virtualized data pipelines, data catalogs, and end-user data products. The role calls for a self-motivated problem solver who collaborates across functional teams and provides technical leadership. The Principal Data Engineer will build and maintain scalable data pipelines, ETL processes, data models, quality and monitoring frameworks, analytics code libraries, Tableau dashboards, and ad hoc query tools. The role also applies AI/ML engineering to production systems and partners with product, platform, data, security, and compliance teams on responsible AI practices, model governance, predictive modeling, and enterprise integration. The position requires an active U.S. Government Secret clearance and the ability to obtain special program access. Travel is 10% of the time; relocation assistance is not available.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in a STEM field and at least 5 years of experience, or a master's degree in a STEM field and at least 3 years of experience, or a Ph.D. in a STEM field and at least 1 year of experience.
- Experience with Python, Git, command line, SQL Servers, Databricks, Oracle databases, Dagster, Tableau, Microsoft Excel, Visual Studio, FastAPI, Azure, SQLAlchemy, PyTorch, scikit-learn, Pillow, OpenCV, and torchvision.
- Experience with data architecture, data models, physical database designs, data integration strategy and design for operational systems, systems integration, and analytical systems.
- Experience with SQL Server and proficiency in data visualization tools such as Tableau or Power BI.
- Active U.S. Government Secret clearance and ability to obtain special program access.
- Applied AI/ML engineering experience delivering models to production using classical machine learning and/or deep learning, including LLM-enabled solutions.
- Experience integrating AI/ML capabilities into enterprise software systems, including APIs or services, data pipelines, and production deployment patterns.
- Experience working in regulated environments with strong security, data-handling, and AI governance expectations.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with modern data orchestration tools such as Airflow.
- Proficiency in leading data visualization tools such as Tableau or Power BI.
- Expertise in Python, SQL, and data visualization tools.
- Experience with ERP, MRP, and quality systems such as SAP, MES, Solumina, or TIPQA.
- Experience with data platform technologies such as Palantir or Databricks.
- Experience leading AI technical strategy or roadmaps for a program or product and influencing stakeholders across software, systems, and program leadership.
- Deep experience with LLM solutions, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), evaluation and guardrails, and enterprise-ready integration.
- Familiarity with enterprise AI governance and responsible-use expectations, including alignment with company AI governance procedures.
Responsibilities
- Provide technical leadership by leading designs, mentoring engineers, and driving technical alignment across teams.
- Design, develop, and maintain scalable data pipelines and ETL processes across multiple data sources.
- Build and optimize data models for analytics and reporting.
- Implement data quality, validation, and monitoring frameworks to ensure reliable downstream insights.
- Collaborate with data scientists, product managers, and business stakeholders to translate analytical needs into technical specifications.
- Create reusable, documented analytics code libraries to accelerate self-service analytics.
- Evaluate emerging data technologies and recommend improvements to the analytics stack.
- Ensure compliance with data governance, security, and privacy policies.
- Develop and maintain Tableau dashboards and ad hoc querying tools for customers and stakeholders.
- Provide technical leadership through design reviews, prototyping, code contributions, and mentoring, while aligning roadmaps across teams.
- Partner with product, platform, data, security, and compliance teams to establish responsible AI practices, model governance, and predictive modeling.
- Deliver AI/ML models to production and integrate AI/ML capabilities into enterprise software systems.
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
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
