Principal Engineer Software/Senior Principal Engineer Software (Tracking)

Company: Northrop Grumman
Location: Melbourne
Posted on: April 1, 2026

Job Description:

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available 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 Aeronautics Systems Sector has an opening for a Principal Engineer Software or Senior Principal Engineer Software (Tracking) to join Global Surveillance Division supporting a team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position will be located in Melbourne, Florida . Responsibilities will include deploying, automating, maintaining, troubleshooting, and improving the systems and software infrastructure running smoothly. The role requires you to have hands on technical experience and a can-do approach towards environment automation and management along with continuous improvements. You will be a team member working in agile development process. You will be responsible for the design and implementation of application builds, releases, deployment along with configuration activities. Your responsibilities will include working with internal business partners to gather requirements, prototyping, and architecting complex solutions supporting the building and test plan execution, performing quality reviews, and triaging and fixing operational issues. The candidate will assist with the integration, troubleshooting and testing of implemented software changes. The ideal candidate will have the ability to take ownership of an ambiguous hard problems and drive to a solution, while working in a team environment. It is critical that you understand the software development life cycle and have an in-depth knowledge of automated testing to facilitate and analyze large data sets. The Software Engineer will develop, modify, and maintain customized or standardized applications using software engineering best practices and standards, and participate in the full life cycle of software development, to include requirements development, modeling and design, application development, unit to CSCI testing, integration, formal system testing, release, installation, and maintenance. The ideal candidate will have the ability to take ownership of hard problems and drive to a solution, while working in a team environment and provide leadership for its implementation. It is critical that you understand the software development life cycle and have an in-depth knowledge of automated testing to facilitate and analyze large data sets. The Software Engineer will participate in the full life cycle of software development, to include requirements development, modeling and design, application development, unit to CSCI testing, integration, formal system testing, release, installation, and maintenance. The Software Engineer will apply technical expertise in solving complex integrations problems. The Software Engineer will interact with Program Management, external suppliers and/or government customers. Therefore, excellent verbal, written and interpersonal skills are required. A solid experience in bash scripting, C/C++, or other OOP languages, in a Linux environment is required. Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD secret security clearance and Special Program Access is a required. Roles & Responsibilities: This position is primarily engaged in the development and fielding of target tracking and sensor fusion systems for advanced multi-function RF and EOIR subsystems. Key features of operation include analyzing, shaping, and relating data from a wide variety of modes, such as long-range search and track Radar waveforms, electronic surveillance measure returns, and Electro-Optic/Infrared video inputs. You will have the opportunity to become the subject matter expert for the target tracking (TRK) CSCI and contribute to the overall design of the software. The ideal candidate will have the ability to take ownership of hard problems and drive to a solution, while working in a team environment and provide leadership for its implementation. It is critical that you understand the software development life cycle and have an in-depth knowledge of automated testing to facilitate and analyze large data sets. The Target Tracking Software Engineer will (1) participate in the full life cycle of software development, to include requirements development, modeling and design, application development, unit to CSCI testing, integration, formal system testing, release, installation, and maintenance. (2) apply technical expertise in solving complex integrations problems. (3) interact with Program Management, external suppliers and/or government customers. This role requires excellent verbal, written and interpersonal skills. Solid experience in C/C++, Ada or other OOP, HOL, and in Linux environment is required. Essential Functions: Full lifecycle design, implementation, and unit testing of software Work with various team members to integrate functionality with other software components. Supporting the gathering and reporting software metrics. Support software working groups with the customer Follow program software best practices and ensure software best practices are followed Ability to lead a team and /or provide leadership to drive solutions of complex problems Develop software products within all phases of the software lifecycle. Develop and support systems to receive, store, process, display, correlate, fuse and forward surface data [GMTI, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Maritime Moving Target Indicator (MMTI), Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR), High Range Resolution (HRR) and Electronic Protection (EP)] from multiple sources. Ability to analyze the system as a whole and determine potential impacts of integrating new technologies. Developing software products implemented from algorithms. In-depth working knowledge from tracker fundaments through fusion, parametric and correlating trackers. Ability to debug complex tracking problems, often working with Systems Engineering Basic Qualifications: (Principal) Bachelor’s degree and 5-years of experience in software engineering OR a Master’s degree and 3-years of experience OR a PhD degree and 0-years of experience. (Senior Principal) Bachelor’s degree and 8 years of experience in software engineering OR a Master’s degree and 6 years of experience OR a PhD degree and 2 years of experience. Higher proficiency understanding and developing multi-target trackers, adaptive processing, or sensor fusion algorithms. Demonstrated programming experience/expertise in C/C++ or other OO language. Demonstrated knowledge/experience of Linear Algebra, Probability, and Kalman Filters Experience developing software to receive, store, process, display, correlate, fuse and forward surface data, Synthetic Aperture Radar, Maritime Moving Target Indicator, Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar, High Range Resolution, EO/IR, and Electronic Protection from multiple sources. Demonstrated experience with tracker SW and its components (i.e. association, correlation, time propagation, measurement conditioning, and track maintenance) Familiarity with the Agile software development process Ability to communicate effectively with customers, senior leadership, and other engineering disciplines. Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret security clearance “Required to Start”. Able to obtain and maintain a program special access program clearance. US Citizenship required. Preferred Qualifications: Master's Degree or PhD in a STEM discipline including electives in radar techniques and signal processing. Experience with MATLAB Experience developing software on both Windows and Linux platforms Familiarity with the Atlassian tool suite with add-ons like Git and Confluence Experience with formal software or systems test Experience with DOORS Experience modeling Software in Cameo Proficient in Ada, C++ High level experience and proficiency in signal processing or RF applications. Proficiency with optimal estimation algorithms (Kalman Filtering), digital beamforming, or adaptive processing. Experience integrating and testing modes/algorithms on RADAR, SIGINT, EOIR, or EW systems. Active In-scope DoD Top Secret Clearance. Has been previously approved for special access programs. Primary Level Salary Range: $98,400.00 - $147,600.00 Secondary Level Salary Range: $122,800.00 - $184,200.00 The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business. The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates. Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.

Keywords: Northrop Grumman, Palm Bay , Principal Engineer Software/Senior Principal Engineer Software (Tracking), IT / Software / Systems , Melbourne, Florida