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# Principal AI Engineer Software

- **Company:** Northrop Grumman
- **Location:** San Diego, CA, United States
- **Experience:** Experienced
- **Salary:** $137,800.0 - $206,800.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Application Frameworks, Systems Engineering, Cyber Security, Continuous Integration, DevOps, Software Engineering, Data Streaming, Delivery Pipeline, Distributed Inference, Containerization, Information Technology
- **Published:** October 2, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.clearancejobs.com/jobs/9209507/principal-ai-engineer-software

## About the Role

* Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or related STEM discipline with 5 years of relevant experience; or 3 years with a Master's degree; or 1 year with a PhD.

 * Current DoD 8570 IAT Level II Certification (Security+) or higher.

 * Candidate must be a US Citizen.

 * Experience translating technical concepts and program information to others.

 * Clearance: A current/active DoD Secret clearance.

 * Experience developing or deploying AI/ML-enabled applications for practical or operational use cases.

 * Experience leading technical efforts across multiple engineering disciplines and guiding teams through implementation.

 * Experience identifying when AI is not the right solution and proposing a better engineering alternative.

Preferred Qualifications for Principal AI Software Engineer:

 * Experience developing or integrating AI/ML-enabled applications into operational or production environments.

 * Experience securing end-to-end systems spanning infrastructure, applications, data, interfaces, and deployment pipelines.

 * Experience assessing AI/ML approaches against data quality, data volume, compute limitations, security requirements, and deployment constraints.

 * Working knowledge across adjacent domains such as cyber security, networking, DevOps, systems engineering, or platform engineering.

 * Experience evaluating and incorporating open-source frameworks, models, or tooling in a secure and supportable manner.

 * Familiarity with modern software delivery practices including CI/CD, containerization, automation, and infrastructure/platform operations.

 * Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction, present to senior leadership, and work effectively across organizations.

 * Experience mentoring engineers and supporting team technical development.

 * Experience with GPU optimization, distributed inference, or deployment in constrained compute environments.

 * Integration of AI into larger end-to-end systems.

 * Experience integrating AI into secure or regulated environments.

 * Track record of delivering measurable business or mission value through cost savings, productivity improvements, force multiplication, or new capability delivery.

## Description

* Design, develop, integrate, and sustain AI-enabled software products and supporting systems across cloud and local/on-premises environments.

 * Translate mission, customer, and business needs into secure, scalable, and maintainable technical solutions.

 * Identify system, workflow, or architecture gaps and independently develop improvements that increase performance, reliability, security, or efficiency.

 * Secure and harden full-stack solutions, including infrastructure, platforms, applications, data flows, and development pipelines.

 * Evaluate, adapt, and securely leverage open-source technologies to accelerate delivery while maintaining engineering rigor and security standards.

 * Experience developing or integrating AI/ML-enabled applications into operational or production environments.

 * Experience securing end-to-end systems spanning infrastructure, applications, data, interfaces, and deployment pipelines.

 * Working knowledge across adjacent domains such as cyber security, networking, DevOps, systems engineering, or platform engineering.

 * Experience evaluating and incorporating open-source frameworks, models, or tooling in a secure and supportable manner.

 * Familiarity with modern software delivery practices including CI/CD, containerization, automation, and infrastructure/platform operations.

 * Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction, present to senior leadership, and work effectively across organizations.

 * Experience mentoring engineers and supporting team technical development.

 * Track record of delivering measurable business or mission value through cost savings, productivity improvements, force multiplication, or new capability delivery.

 * Work across software, cyber, networking, DevOps, and systems engineering disciplines to implement end-to-end solutions.

 * Perform technical trade studies, solution analysis, and architectural assessments to support sound engineering decisions.

 * Communicate technical approaches, risks, status, and results to leadership, stakeholders, and cross-organizational teams.

 * Incorporate emerging research, tools, and engineering practices into practical solutions where they provide measurable value.

 * Mentor other engineers, contribute to technical growth across the team, and help drive execution toward program and business objectives.