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Principal/Sr. Principal Software Engineer Space Force

Posted 1 month agoSoftware

Compensation

$103,600–$155,400/year

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Job Description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: No relocation assistance available

CLEARANCE TYPE: Polygraph

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 is seeking a Sr Principal Software Engineer to work on-site at Schriever SFB, near Colorado Springs, CO for our Front Range Operations and Sustainment Team (FROST) program. We Liaison with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and Satellite Control Network (SCN) to support our Front Range Operations and Sustainment Team (FROST) program, and to provide satellite support services to our mission critical customer.  FROST conducts real time on-orbit support, launch ascent support and End-of-Life operations for all NOPS (NRO Operations Squadron) missions. 

The FROST Software team works in a state-of-the-art dynamic environment to develop new containerized software and maintain existing software for different needs on the program.

Responsibilities:

  • Maintain software used to establish connections for status & control of ground equipment.
  • Provide Java software development. Perform all aspects of software engineering support required to implement systems.
  • Also maintain software that handles scheduling of on-orbit contacts, and orbit calculations.
  • Write software that supports launch operations with trajectory calculations for the SpaceX and ULA vendors.
  • Provide assistance for team members primarily on Java development and utilizing the Spring Boot framework.
  • Develop React-based user interfaces for operator interaction.
  • Assist writing microservices that interact with a variety of vendor interfaces for data processing. • Deploy new containerized applications in Kubernetes environments.
  • Assist with new customer requests by extending and enhancing existing capabilities and creating new ones where needed.

NGSkills

This position is open as a dual level opportunity. We will consider candidates at a level 3 or level 4:

Based on your overall experience, education, years of experience, fit to the position, and interview evaluation will determine which level you are selected for.

Basic Qualifications:

  • Level 3: Bachelor’s degree with 5 years of experience OR a master’s and 3 years’ experience OR a High School diploma / equivalent with 9 years’ experience may be considered in lieu of degree
  • Level 4: Bachelor’s degree with 8 years of experience OR a master’s and 6 years’ experience OR a High School diploma / equivalent with 12 years’ experience may be considered in lieu of degree
  • Work on-site at Schriever SFB, near Colorado Springs, CO
  • TS/SCI CI poly - Open to candidates without an active poly clearance. Please note, if you are selected without an active poly you will receive a contingent offer and cannot start until your poly clearance is complete. This process can take 18+ months.
  • Experience and proficiency with Java
  • Knowledge with Spring Boot framework or other similar experience

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Knowledgeable with IDE for Java software development or other similar experience
  • Experience with Gitlab or other similar experience and Git distributed version control system.
  • Experience Software design and development
  • Experience with Java build systems
  • Ability to collaborate with internal and external developers and integrating their components into a larger framework with NoSQL databases, such as MongoDB.
  • Experience with NoSQL databases, such as MongoDB.
  • Experience with Docker/Kubernetes.
  • Experience using/writing Ansible automation scripts.
  • Experience with C++ programming language.
  • Working knowledge of SQL databases.

    Primary Level Salary Range: $103,600.00 - $155,400.00

    Secondary Level Salary Range: $129,300.00 - $193,900.00

    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.
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    Job Details

    Category
    Software
    Employment Type
    Full time
    Location
    Schriever AFB, CO, United States
    Posted
    Dec 7, 2025, 07:00 PM
    Listed
    Jan 17, 2026, 10:31 AM
    Last updated
    Jan 17, 2026, 02:23 PM
    Compensation
    $103,600 - $155,400 per year

    About Northrop Grumman

    Part of the growing space industry ecosystem pushing humanity toward interplanetary exploration.

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