Northrop Grumman
Principal/Sr. Principal Cyber Software Engineer
- Location
- San Antonio, TX
- Work type
- On-site
- Job type
- Full-time
- Salary
- $113.9K – $170.9K / yr
- Clearance
- TS/SCI
- U.S. citizenship
- Required
- Posted
- Sep 3, 2026
About the role
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes
CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret
TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time
Secondary Level Salary Range: $142,200.00 - $213,200.00
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.
CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes
CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret
TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time
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.Come join Northrop Grumman –San Antonio, part of the Mission Systems sector, where we develop new capabilities for our military and intelligence customers around the globe. In San Antonio we design systems that only science fiction writers could imagine, because they’re that cool!
We are seeking cleared mid-level Software Engineers who are self‑motivated and energetic, with a background in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical disciplines.
Responsibilities:
This position involves developing solutions to national security threats with products that may involve kernel development, reverse engineering, or vulnerability research of network and communication systems. The position requires solid software development skills, including familiarity with scripting languages. Knowledge of computer networking, modern software development environments, embedded programming, and software configuration management tools is a plus.
Essential Functions:
- Kernel Mode (Windows, Linux) programming (C/C++, Assembly)
- Reverse Engineering (x86, x64, MIPS, PPC, or ARM)
- Vulnerability Analysis
- Communications Engineer: Network Programming (C/C++)Network protocols TCP/IP, UDP, HTTP, SSL, etc...
- Infrastructure Engineer
This position can be filled at the Principal or the Sr. Principal Level.
Basic Qualifications for Principal Engineer Level:
- B.S. degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 5 years of programming experience, or M.S. degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering and 3 experience.
- US Citizenship is required
- An active Secret clearance is required
- Ability to obtain and maintain and Top Secret clearance.
- Demonstrated software programming experience in C/C++
- Experience with debugging and/or system analysis tools (e.g., Wireshark, IDAPro, OllyDebug, WinDBG, JTAG debuggers)
- Experience as Technical Lead leading teams of 2-8 engineers
Basic Qualifications for Sr. Principal Engineer Level:
- B.S. degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field and 8 years of programming experience, or M.S. degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering and 6 experience.
- US Citizenship is required
- An active Secret clearance is required
- Ability to obtain and maintain and Top Secret clearance.
- Demonstrated software programming experience in C/C++
- Experience with debugging and/or system analysis tools (e.g., Wireshark, IDAPro, OllyDebug, WinDBG, JTAG debuggers)
- Experience as Technical Lead leading teams of 2-8 engineers
Preferred Qualifications:
- Active TS/SCI security clearance
- Advanced degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field
- Experience in software development to include any of the following: kernel mode, embedded, command and control, web applications, network applications
- Experience with SDLC (software development life cycle)
- Familiarity with Assembly Languages (e.g., x86, x64, MIPS, PPC, or ARM)
- Experience with vulnerability research on one or more operating systems (Android, IOS, Windows, Linux, etc.).
- Experience with emulation (Renode, QEMU, etc.)
- Experience with reverse engineering compiled binaries using industry-standard tools such as Ghidra or IDA Pro.
- Experience developing software for multiple operating system environments
- Experience with virtual machine technology
- OS Internals experience
- Development of lower-level networking protocols such as TCP/IP and UDP
- Understanding of return-oriented programming (ROP) concepts and execution
- Ability to develop and implement shell code.
- Ability to understand secure / insecure programming concepts (format string vulnerabilities, heap overflows, etc.)
- Familiarity with modern source control platforms (e.g., Git, GitHub, GitLab) and CI/CD workflows using tools such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, and GitLab CI.
- Experience with the Agile methodology
This position offers the option of a 9/80 work schedule. The 9/80 schedule allows employees who work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday to take every other Friday off.
Primary Level Salary Range: $113,900.00 - $170,900.00Secondary Level Salary Range: $142,200.00 - $213,200.00
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.