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Principal Engineer Data

Northrop Grumman

Listing collected from Northrop Grumman's career site. NextChapter is independent of Northrop Grumman.

San Diego, CA · Posted September 29, 2026

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  • Python
  • SQL
  • Power BI
  • Tableau
  • Databricks

About the job

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: No 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 Data Engineer to join our Digital Strategy & Analytics team. This position is located in Rancho Bernardo, California.

Are you motivated to work in an environment that will challenge you, force you to continuously innovate, and work on solutions that make a difference for your customers? Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems relies on our team to provide the insights needed to drive performance across a broad range of strategic activities. We are looking for a passionate Data Engineer to design and develop an ecosystem of interconnected business systems, virtualized data pipelines, data catalogs, and end-user consumable data products.

You will share in the ownership of the technical vision and direction for a Digital Ecosystem that changes the way we see and use data. We are looking for people who are self-motivated, hardworking, and have demonstrated the ability to find innovative solutions to complex technical problems.

Essential Functions:

Develop and run a data architecture plan that supports business goals and objectives

Build and maintain data models and metadata standards to facilitate data integration and analysis

Work with business stakeholders to understand their data requirements and develop solutions to meet those requirements

Work across technical teams and product owners to provide an architectural recommendation

Lead a technical and technology assessment initiative to develop and deliver a recommendation for digitizing core business functions

Understand the current business processes, systems and their functions to be able to develop a recommendations for the digital ecosystem

Ensure that data storage and retrieval solutions are in line with business requirements.

Excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skill

Collaboration and problem-solving skills

Basic Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) field with at least 5 years of experience OR Master’s degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) field with at least 3 years of experience

Experience with data architecture, data models, physical database designs, data integration strategy and design for operational systems, systems integration, and analytical systems

Experience with SQL Server and proficiency in data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, etc.)

Knowledge of data governance best practices, data quality standards, and data security protocols

Your ability to transfer and maintain the final adjudicated government Secret clearance and any program access(es) required for the position within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Company.

Preferred Qualifications:

Master’s degree in a STEM field with 7 years of relevant experience.

5 years of experience working with ETL techniques and frameworks.

Expert in Python, SQL, and data visualization tools.

Experience with NoSQL Databases (e.g., MongoDB, Neo4J, etc.)

Development experience utilizing Hadoop, Spark, PowerShell, and automation scripts.

Experience with data platform technologies (e.g., Palantir, Databricks, etc.).

Experience with Data Virtualization, Warehousing, Cataloging, and Orchestration tools (e.g. Denodo, Collibra, Airflow, DataHub, etc.)

Experience with UI/UX design and development / Graphic Design

Top Secret clearance

CompTIA Security+ Certification or Equivalent 8570 Certification

Primary Level Salary Range: $114,000.00 - $171,000.00

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.