Software Architect/Lead Level 5

What you'll get to do: The Architect Lead drives the design, development, and delivery of complex, mission-critical systems that span both software and hardware domains. Leveraging deep expertise in Java and hardware-software interfacing, the Lead architects end-to-end solutions, aligns multiple development programs, and establishes governance frameworks that enable consistent, high-quality workflow automation across the organization. This role blends hands-on technical leadership with strategic oversight, ensuring that architectural decisions, coding standards, and delivery processes meet business objectives and regulatory requirements.

• Level 5: Bachelor's degree in Science with 12+ years of relevant experience; 10+ years with a Master's, 4 additional years may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Requires an active Top-Secret clearance with SCI eligibility at time of application.
• Experience with Domain-Driven Design, Event-Driven Architecture, RESTful & gRPC APIs, message brokers (Kafka, RabbitMQ), API gateways, architectural patterns (CQRS, Saga), UML/SysML modeling.
• Experience with advanced Java programming.
• Experience in hardware interface and message exchange concepts for TCP/IP, UDP, SNMP, GEMS APIs.
• Demonstrated knowledge with version control using Git and workflows on platforms such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket.
• Experience with Agile methodologies and Sprint planning, agile release delivery cadence under JIRA or other Atlassian Product Suites.
• Demonstrated technical leadership experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Kubernetes/Docker.
• Experience with Linux.
• Experience with Maven/Gradle.
• Experience Junit/TestNG.
• Experience with React/TypeScript.

Primary Level Salary Range: $177,000.00 - $265,600.00

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.

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. Are you a multi-talented engineer looking for your next opportunity? We support a small but mighty team that continues to innovate and set new benchmarks for our customers. If this sounds like the opportunity for you, Northrop Grumman Space Systems Sector would love to have you join our team as a (level 5) Software Engineer based out of Aurora, CO.