Software Engineer 3

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.

Join Northrop Grumman on our continued mission to push the boundaries of possible across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Enjoy a culture where your voice is valued and start contributing to our team of passionate professionals providing real-life solutions to our world’s biggest challenges. We take pride in creating purposeful work and allowing our employees to grow and achieve their goals every day by Defining Possible. With our competitive pay and comprehensive benefits, we have the right opportunities to fit your life and launch your career today.

Northrop Grumman Space Systems, Multi-Domain Operations, Missile Defense Integration Business Unit (BU), has an exciting career opportunity for a Principal Software Engineer to join our Internal Research and Development (IRAD) Test Team. This position is located in Huntsville, AL .

As a member of the Test Automation team, your primary responsibility will be the design, development, and implementation of automated tests to validate system functionality, performance, and integration. You will work in a collaborative environment to ensure quality assurance of mission-critical software systems, bringing cutting-edge test automation practices to life. Your role will require close coordination with developers, systems engineers, and other stakeholders to ensure effective, reliable automated test scripts that align with defined requirements and test cases.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with test leads, developers, and systems engineers to design test cases and implement automated tests to validate system requirements.
• Develop, maintain, and optimize automated test frameworks to ensure scalability, accuracy, and maintainability of automated test suites.
• Execute automated regression, integration, and performance tests, documenting and reporting results to the team.
• Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve issues found during testing, including collaboration with developers to investigate root causes.
• Support continuous testing workflows in CI/CD pipelines, incorporating automated testing tools to improve validation efficiency.
• Ensure traceability between test requirements, automated tests, and system verification results.
• Analyze test results using automated tools to evaluate system performance and identify gaps.
• Contribute to the refinement and implementation of automated testing strategies aligned with industry best practices.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM-related field, and 5 years of related experience; or a Master’s degree with 3 years of related experience; or 1 years with a PhD.
• Active in-scope DoD-issued Secret security clearance at the time of application, which is required to start.
• Experience designing, developing, and executing automated tests in alignment with defined test cases.
• Hands-on experience with test automation frameworks and libraries in CI/CD environments.
• Proficiency with scripting languages (e.g., Python) and object-oriented programming languages (e.g., Java, C#).
• Strong knowledge of containerization and orchestration tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) as part of a software delivery/testing pipeline.
• Familiarity with testing tools and platforms such as Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar for automating builds and execution.
• Unix/Linux operating system experience.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Quick to learn and adopt new concepts and technologies.

 Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced scripting capabilities in Python or Java for custom automation needs.
• Previous experience integrating Gherkin syntax and Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) methodologies into automated testing workflows.
• Familiarity with tools such as Cucumber, SpecFlow, or similar.
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) systems and real-time testing environments.
• Understanding of testing in containerized environments, using Docker and orchestration platforms such as Kubernetes.
• Familiarity with Static & Dynamic Code Analysis tools (e.g., SonarQube, Fortify, Coverity).
• Familiarity with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) tools and processes.
• Advanced degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or Mathematics.