Sr. Principal AI Software Engineer (AHT)

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE TYPE: Top 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.

The Northrop Grumman C2 & Weapons Integration (CWI) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence in Beavercreek, Ohio is seeking a highly motivated Sr. Principal AI Software Engineer to join our team. We have a state-of-the-art research facility where our team works on some of the most challenging problems related to AI Augmentation and Automation. Research areas include Large Language Models (LLMs), advanced AI-based natural language processing (NLP), natural language understanding (NLU), Natural Language Generation (NLG), AI-based decision-making, sensor fusion, data fusion, computer vision, and image processing. We are on the cutting edge of responsible AI and explainable AI adoption. We invite you to apply to this requisition so you can learn about the exciting research we do and tell us about how you can help our team!

Successful candidates will demonstrate a broad skill set balanced between interpersonal and technical capabilities developing sustainable quality products. They will have a track record as an effective communicator and problem solver who is capable of developing and maintaining good working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. The selected candidates will work closely with other AI/ML and software engineers to accomplish the following:

• Define, develop, and deliver novel mathematical and statistical modeling and algorithm development to tackle the challenges of prediction, optimization, and classification.
• Apply machine learning (ML) algorithms to large sets of structured and unstructured data to solve a broad range of problems that include applications in autonomy, pattern recognition, target detection and tracking, recommendation and decision support systems, and robotic systems.
• Design, develop, document, test, debug, and deploy state-of-the-art AI/ML applications.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deploy AI/ML solutions in development and production environments.
• Regularly demonstrate progress to customers.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related STEM degree with 8 years' experience OR Master's degree in Computer Science or related STEM degree with 6 years' experience OR PhD with 4 years' experience.
• Extensive experience programming with one or more programming languages.
• Demonstrated proficiency with applied ML concepts, including: neural networks, (e.g., CNNs, LSTMs, transformer models), supervised/unsupervised learning methods, reinforcement learning methods, as well as statistical modeling, graphical models, and general algorithm development.
• Development experience should span the ML pipeline and demonstrate proficiency in the following skills: working with novel datasets, data processing and preparation, training and fine-tuning ML systems, modifying existing deep learning architectures as well as coding from architecture diagrams, and evaluating system performance using established and novel metrics and methods.
• Experience:
  • Programming with Python.
  • Developing on Linux-based operating systems.
  • Developing and deploying a range of AI models and algorithms, including: NLP, LLMs, genetic algorithms, image processing, computer vision, embedding models, deep learning, etc.
  • Data preprocessing methods and strategies.
  • Developing systems with AI/ML frameworks and libraries such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, Scikit-learn, and transformers.
  • Evaluating model performance using key AI/ML metrics and benchmarks.
  • Web application development frameworks such as Flask, FastAPI.
  • Applying software engineering best practices, including source control, software architecture, coding standards, managing software teams, etc.
• Ability to:
  • Lead technical teams as project manager and technical architect.
  • Collaborate with systems engineers and cross-functional teams to plan, architect, and execute AI/ML projects.
  • Carry out rapid prototyping and proof-of-concept demonstrations.
  • Communicate complex technical concepts to customers and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Work independently without appreciable direction.
  • Mentor junior team members.
• Familiarity:
  • Feature engineering for AI/ML projects.
  • Vector and/or graph databases.
  • Computational and statistical learning theory.
  • Microservice architectures and related software methods, including containerization and container orchestration.
• Must be able to obtain a U.S. Government Top Secret security clearance (U.S. citizenship is a pre-requisite).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience:
  • AWS or other cloud computing services.
  • Implementing microservice architectures and related software methods, including containerization and container orchestration.
  • Working with LLMs (e.g. prompt engineering, LLM development frameworks, fine tuning, quantization, RAG, MCP). Agentic AI design and orchestration.
  • Mathematical and data analysis languages like MATLAB and R.
  • Operating in a Lean/Agile development paradigm.
  • Collaboration with cross-functional teams to compose and deliver winning proposals.
• Familiarity:
  • Deploying agentic AI solutions.
  • Explainable AI, adversarial AI, and third wave approaches to AI.
  • DevOps/DevSecOps/MLOps concepts.
  • Systems engineering principles and practices.
  • Modeling and simulation concepts using industry-standard tools.
  • Model-based systems engineering concepts and practices.

Primary Level Salary Range: $151,100.00 - $226,700.00

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.