2026 - Associate Cyber Software Engineer - Annapolis Junction MD
Northrop Grumman · Jessup, MD
$96,700–$103,800from the description
Jun 30, 2026
Jessup, MD
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
An associate-level test engineering role focused on testing an offensive cyber platform within a classified customer environment. Day-to-day work involves writing and executing test plans, automating test cases using Python, troubleshooting defects, and contributing to a continuous delivery pipeline within an Agile team. The role suits early-career engineers with a background in software testing, development, or systems engineering who hold an active DoD Top Secret clearance.
Junior level · 2+ years · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD · Bachelor's required · Top Secret clearance · Full-time
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $132,736 (middle half $104,315–$164,234). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
The role is titled 'Associate SW Test Engineer' — 'Associate' is Northrop Grumman's entry-level designation, consistent with the 2-year experience minimum and the campus-hire salary band ($96,700–$103,800/year).
The posting requires an active DoD Top Secret clearance at start, with eligibility for SCI; TS/SCI is listed only under Preferred Qualifications and is therefore marked preferred.
CI/CD is listed in the required qualifications as 'familiarity with CI/CD principles' — the 'familiarity with' phrasing is softer than 'experience with', but it appears in the Basic Qualifications block, so it is treated as a hard gate.
Testing principles and best practices appear under Preferred Qualifications and are not captured as a named technology skill.
The role is fully on-site at Annapolis Junction, MD and/or Hanover, MD — both fall within the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson CBSA.
A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0 is required; this cannot be represented in the structured fields but is a notable screening criterion.
Requires a Top Secret clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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