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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Principal Data Engineer/Sr. Principal Data Engineer - **Company:** Northrop Grumman - **Location:** El Segundo, CA, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $114,000.0 - $171,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Airflow, Automation of Tests, Computer Programming, Continuous Integration, Data as a Services, Data Architecture, Data Structures, Data Systems, Relational Databases, Python (Programming Language), Metadata, Microsoft SQL Server, Operational Databases, SQL Databases, Technical Data Management Systems, Git, SC Clearance, Data Management - **Published:** October 31, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/principal-data-engineer-sr-principal-data-engineer-el-segundo-ca--6bb6dd93-adb9-4480-b38b-3be0b88db765 ## About the Role Diversity, Aerospace and Defense, Team Player, Data Science, On Site Support, Data Modeling, Manufacturing, Data Structures, Data Management, Traceability, * Bachelor's degree with 4 years of technical and/or engineering experience, or a Master's degree with 3 years of engineering experience, or PhD with 0 years of experience * Ability to work 1st shift "5am-3:30pm" or 2nd shift "4:12pm-2:42am" and/or any work schedule (times may vary) * Advanced experience using SQL, programming or automation, and relational data modeling to deliver production data products, applications, or platforms * Experience defining and owning data architecture, including repositories, schemas, interfaces, integration patterns, metadata, lineage, data quality, and maintainability * Demonstrated success delivering greenfield data solutions where platforms, standards, requirements, data contracts, or system endpoints were incomplete or did not exist * Experience designing pipelines and integration approaches for complex data from multiple independently managed sources * Experience establishing technical direction for ambiguous data problems and driving alignment across technical and operational stakeholders * Ability to communicate architecture, performance, risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs to senior managers and technical stakeholders * This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret or Top-Secret Clearance as well as Program Special access within a reasonable period, as determined by the company to meet its business needs * Ability to work for extended periods of time at a workstation on a computer or similar device for up to 10 hours / duration of shift. Occasional extended periods of standing, bending, kneeling * Ability to travel at least 10%, * Bachelor's degree with 8 years of engineering experience, or a Master's degree with 6 years of engineering experience, or PhD with 4 years of engineering experience * Ability to work 1st shift "5am-3:30pm" or 2nd shift "4:12pm-2:42am" and/or any work schedule (times may vary) * Advanced experience using SQL, programming or automation, and relational data modeling to deliver production data products, applications, or platforms * Experience defining and owning data architecture, including repositories, schemas, interfaces, integration patterns, metadata, lineage, data quality, and maintainability * Demonstrated success delivering greenfield data solutions where platforms, standards, requirements, data contracts, or system endpoints were incomplete or did not exist * Experience designing pipelines and integration approaches for complex data from multiple independently managed sources * Experience establishing technical direction for ambiguous data problems and driving alignment across technical and operational stakeholders * Ability to communicate architecture, performance, risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs to senior managers and technical stakeholders * This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret or Top-Secret Clearance as well as Program Special access within a reasonable period, as determined by the company to meet its business needs * Ability to work for extended periods of time at a workstation on a computer or similar device for up to 10 hours / duration of shift. Occasional extended periods of standing, bending, kneeling * Ability to travel at least 10%, * STEM degree in a related field * Experience establishing data architecture across manufacturing measurement, equipment, sensor, process, product, quality, engineering, program, and enterprise-system domains * Experience aligning independently managed structures through authoritative sources, shared identifiers, mappings, semantic models, relationships, stewardship, and traceability * Experience designing scalable approaches for high-volume, high-frequency, time-dependent, spatial, or otherwise complex technical data * Experience developing data services, APIs, or application interfaces that allow domain teams to provide and maintain contextual data * Experience with Python, Microsoft SQL Server, Apache Airflow, Git-based development, automated testing, CI/CD, monitoring, or production operations. Python and Airflow are preferred because they align with the current team and infrastructure, but comparable programming and orchestration experience is acceptable * Experience incorporating relevant information from engineering documents, work instructions, or other unstructured technical sources without making document parsing the primary solution focus. * Experience leading architecture reviews, mentoring technical contributors, and raising data-engineering maturity across an organization * Experience partnering with enterprise organizations while independently defining and advancing local manufacturing-data needs when enterprise support or platforms are immature * Active U.S. Government Secret or higher security clearance ## Description * Establish repositories, data models, and integration patterns for manufacturing data and the technical context required to support digitized processes * Define the architecture, processes, and interfaces through which engineering and manufacturing teams provide, validate, relate, and maintain contextual data * Align adjacent and independently managed data structures through authoritative sources, shared identifiers, mappings, semantics, relationships, and traceability * Design resilient pipelines and data services that integrate manufacturing measurement, equipment, sensor, process, product-location, quality, engineering, and enterprise-system data * Set technical direction for greenfield manufacturing-data solutions and communicate strategy, alternatives, risks, dependencies, and outcomes to senior leaders and technical stakeholders