Sr. Principal Engineer DevOps (26-002)

Northrop Grumman•Huntsville, AL

3d•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 Space Systems—Missile Defense Integration offers an excellent opportunity for a Sr. Principal Engineer DevOps - DevSecOps Engineer (26-002) to join our team of talented and diverse professionals. Based in Colorado Springs, CO, or Huntsville, AL, this role is essential to supporting the U.S. President, the Secretary of Defense, and combatant commanders at the strategic, regional, and operational levels. This position does not provide relocation assistance and requires on-site work with no remote options. Position Overview: The Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) program is a key component of the Missile Defense System. It is a vital operational system that enables the U.S. president, the secretary of defense, and combatant commanders at strategic, regional, and operational levels to plan ballistic missile defense operations systematically, monitor the battle collectively, and dynamically control networked sensors and weapon systems to achieve global and regional mission goals. C2BMC supports layered missile defense capabilities that enable an optimized response to threats across all ranges and flight phases. It serves as a force multiplier by networking, integrating, and synchronizing autonomous sensor and weapon systems and operations globally and regionally to improve performance. C2BMC is essential for all ground and flight tests that verify and demonstrate current and future missile defense system capabilities. The appropriate measure for this level of position is applying extensive expertise and solving complex problems that require frequent use of ingenuity and creativity. Work is performed with minimal direction and is reviewed for desired results over a relatively long time frame. Erroneous decisions would typically fail to achieve primary organizational objectives. May function in project leadership roles and represent the organization as the prime customer contact on significant technical matters related to contracts.

Requirements

3-5 years of hands-on DevSecOps/DevOps experience in a high-security, mission-critical environment
Proven ability to write clean, maintainable code and familiarity with the software development lifecycle ( SDLC )
Deep knowledge of Linux ( RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu ) and/or Windows Server (2016/2019/2022) administration, including hardening and patch management
Direct experience implementing security baselines ( STIG, CIS, NIST ), vulnerability remediation, or hardening automation
Basic network fundamentals, including an understanding of TCP/IP , VLANs , routing , firewalls , VPNs , and basic network troubleshooting
Basic Qualifications: Please list your current security clearance and IAT or relevant certifications on your resume, if applicable.
A Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or a related field from an accredited university is preferred, along with 8 years of experience; or a Master's degree ( preferred ) in a related field with 6 years of relevant work experience; or PhD in a related discipline with 4 years of relevant work experience
Applicants must have a current, active DoD 8140 certification at IAT Level II or higher (such as Security+, CCNA, JNCIA, CISSP, etc.) at the time of application, which is required to start. The candidate is responsible for maintaining their DoD 8140 certification throughout the entire contract period
Applicants must have a current, active in-scope DoD-issued Secret security clearance at the time of application, which is required to start
Ansible - Advanced proficiency in playbook development, role creation, inventory management, and the Ansible Automation Platform
Containerization - Strong experience building, packaging, and deploying containerized applications ( Docker, Podman ) and orchestrating them with Kubernetes or OpenShift
Scripting Languages - Expert-level scripting in Python, Bash , and/or PowerShell for automation, data manipulation, and API integration
CI/CD Platforms - Hands-on with GitLab and CI/CD ( Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions ) to design pipelines that include unit tests, security scans, and automated deployments
Version Control Collaboration - Mastery of Git & workflows, pull-request reviews, branching strategies, and code-ownership practices
Infrastructure-as-Code Tools - Proficiency with Terraform/Packer for platform-agnostic resource provisioning
Monitoring & Observability - Experience configuring telemetry ( Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/EFK stacks, Splunk ) and alerting in automated environments
Secret & Credential Management - Familiarity with HashiCorp Vault, Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or equivalent
Compliance Automation - Ability to script and integrate compliance checks ( OpenSCAP, InSpec, Chef InSpec ) into the deployment pipeline
Problem-Solving & Incident Response - Comfortable troubleshooting complex, multi-layered failures and participating in on-call rotation for production issues

Responsibilities

Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) Development Design, write, and maintain IaC templates for Windows and Linux platforms using: Ansible , Packer, Python, and other scripting languages Ensure all code is version-controlled, reviewed, and compliant with C2BMC's security standards
Fully automated Software Stack Build and operate an end-to-end automation pipeline that provisions, hardens, and configures systems for the C2BMC program Integrate automated testing, vulnerability scanning, and compliance verification into the stack
STIG Baseline Hardening Automation Develop reusable Ansible playbooks and custom scripts that automatically apply the DoD STIG and baseline to C2BMC systems Track and remediate any compliance drift on an ongoing basis
Configuration-Management Baseline Establish a single source of truth for all configuration data (inventory, variables, and secrets) that feeds Ansible automation Implement secure secret management ( Vault, Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager , etc.) and enforce idempotent deployments
Tooling & Technology refresh Evaluate, prototype, and stand up new tools, containers, and services to keep C2BMC ahead of emerging technological trends Provide documentation, training, and knowledge transfer for any new capabilities introduced to the team