Staff Engineer Software Mission Assurance – Top Secret/SCI (Space/Satellite Systems)

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.

Software Mission Assurance engineer is a unique function within the Space Systems, with opportunities to work on spacecraft programs, be highly interactive with multiple subsystems, and flex your knowledge of the overall software development life-cycle process including software planning, design, implementation, verification, validation, acceptance, and delivery.

To be successful in this role you should have a strong understanding of the aerospace software life cycle, process, and product compliance such as ISO and NASA requirements, nonconformance system, and a detail oriented approach to identify and capture noncompliance and risks throughout the software’s development life cycle and maintenance. Excellent people and technical skills are required to coordinate with customers, subcontractors, programs, and technical subsystems and to conduct compliance analysis and audits, identify corrective actions, and work on continuous process improvement.

  Job Responsibilities

• Define software mission assurance requirements, and implement software quality assurance processes to ensure software mission assurance success of programs
• Review NASA contractual, aerospace, and internal requirements and derive Software Assurance process and product requirements
• Support program reviews such as Software Requirements Reviews (SRR), Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Test Readiness Review (TRR), etc.
• Evaluate Software and Safety requirements for testability, ambiguity and consistency
• Review and approve software work products for internal and external delivery 
• Participate in Engineering Review Board (ERB) to assess impact of software changes
• Ensure software compliance to polices, processes, and standard requirements (e.g. ISO, IEEE, NASA, SAE, etc.). Plan audits and bring to resolution related compliance findings
• Identify non-conformances and root cause; successfully implement corrective and preventive actions      
• Chair Software Configuration Control Boards (SCCB), review software changes and approved implementation using related software problem tracking Jira tool
• Witness software/firmware verification testing, software patches and software validation to ensure compliance to requirements and procedures
• Develop and maintain the Safety Critical Software Determination Report
• As a member of mission assurance support System Safety team and participate in CBCS analysis, assess mission command database for proper marking of hazardous commands, support closure of hazard verifications related to CBCS software, FDIR, and Ground Software
• Interact with customers, software subcontractors and engineering, ensuring product’s compliance and to resolve issues
• Develop and deliver required metrics, presentations and reports
• Support Mission Operations for in mission spacecraft life support, in particular software assurance for flight software patches

   

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related STEM field highly preferred. (Equivalent work experience may be considered in lieu of a degree)
• Minimum of 14 years of related experience
• U.S. citizen
• Active or current Top Secret/SCI clearance
• Experience in software quality and software safety assurance

Preferred Qualifications:

• Have a quality mindset (able to spot goodness and well as deficiencies in process and products) as well as a systems mindset (able to see the big picture and solve problems) 
• Experience in software safety assurance and human flight safety is a plus
• Excellent writing, communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to adapt to new challenges and ideas
• Must be self-motivated and detail-oriented
• Be detail oriented and self-driven
• Ability to successfully work multiple concurrent tasks
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills
• Work well under pressure and adapts well to unplanned tasks
• Dedicated to teamwork and work well in a team environment

Salary Range: $161,000 USD - $236,400 USD

Employees may be eligible for 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 health and safety of our employees and their families is a top priority. The company encourages employees to remain up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations. U.S. Northrop Grumman employees may be required, in the future, to be vaccinated or have an approved disability/medical or religious accommodation, pursuant to future court decisions and/or government action on the currently stayed federal contractor vaccine mandate under Executive Order 14042 https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/contractors/.

Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action 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/AA and Pay Transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for most positions.