Principal/Sr. Principal Embedded Software Engineer (Active Secret)
United States-California-Redondo Beach$114k–$213kPosted Jul 23, 2026
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes
CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret
TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time
## Description
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 Principal/Sr. Principal Flight Software Engineer - Level 3 or 4 (Active Secret) to join our team of highly qualified, diverse professionals within the Western Region Software Engineering Directorate. This position is located onsite in Redondo Beach, CA.
The Western Region Software Engineering organization comprises over 800 highly skilled professionals, including Software Engineers, DevOps Engineers, Database Administrators, and Network Engineers, at all levels—ranging from early-career engineers to senior chief engineers and architects. This engineering organization supports numerous programs, and we have plenty of opportunities for career advancement into higher level technical roles or leadership positions. Our culture promotes cross-program collaboration, continuous professional development, and a strong sense of community.
The job responsibilities of the Flight Software Engineer include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Design, develop, integrate, and verify/test flight software solutions for embedded and real-time systems.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams—including Systems Engineering, Digital Engineering, Hardware, and Integration & Test—within an Agile development environment.
• Successful candidates are expected to understand system requirements, how they apply to system design, and to implement and debug software to meet defined completion criteria.
The Flight Software Engineer will work in a rapid, fast-paced program environment and must be a self-starter who can operate efficiently in a team setting. Existing engineering and systems specialists will be available to assist with any activities associated with executing primary tasking. However, the selected individual will be expected to prioritize and make recommendations to Technical Leads, as required, to implement assigned tasking.
Basic Qualifications – Principal Flight Software Engineer (Level 3):
• Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline with 5+ years of software or relevant engineering experience; Master's degree in a STEM discipline with 3+ years of stated experience; Ph.D. in a STEM discipline with 1+ years of stated experience
• Active U.S. Government Secret security clearance required at the time of application
• Strong background in embedded C/C++ development with emphasis in object-oriented and thread-safe programming
• Strong background in integrating and troubleshooting embedded software in a lab environment
• Proficiency with Python
• Experience writing driver-level software for serial or networking applications (UART, TCP, UDP)
• Experience developing in a Linux environment
• Experience working in Agile software development using the Atlassian Tool Suite (Bitbucket, Jira, Confluence) and Git version control
Basic Qualifications – Sr. Principal Flight Software Engineer (Level 4):
• Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline with 8+ years of software or relevant engineering experience; Master's degree in a STEM discipline with 6+...