Principal / Senior Principal Embedded Software Engineer
Northrop Grumman · Los Angeles, CA
$114,000–$213,400from the description
Jun 30, 2026
Los Angeles, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role centers on developing embedded software for navigation systems, including design, coding, and hardware/software integration. Work involves model-based engineering approaches, agile practices, and safety-critical software development. It suits engineers with a background in languages like C or C++ and experience with tools such as Simulink or Rhapsody, particularly those with interest in INS/GPS or avionics systems.
Senior level · 5+ years · Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA · Bachelor's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $164,459 (middle half $130,334–$195,752). 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 (9)
This posting covers two levels simultaneously: Principal Software Engineer (5+ years with a Bachelor's) and Senior Principal Software Engineer (8+ years with a Bachelor's). The salary ranges are also dual: $114K–$171K for Principal and $142.2K–$213.4K for Senior Principal. The extracted the overall years minimum and comp figures reflect the lower (Principal) tier as the minimum entry point.
The title uses 'Principal' and 'Senior Principal' — Northrop Grumman's internal ladder. These map to Senior on the standard market ladder; neither role carries explicit org-wide technical authority or cross-team direction-setting that would warrant Staff or Principal on the standard band.
Clearance: the posting states no active clearance is required at start ('CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: No'), but candidates must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret clearance. The preferred qualifications note a current/active Secret as a plus.
The UML/MBE design tool requirement names Rhapsody, Simulink, and SCADE as interchangeable examples ('such as … and/or'); one skill entry captures this with alternatives.
The workflow/SCM tool requirement names ClearCase, Git, ClearQuest, and Jira as interchangeable examples; Git is used as the primary name with the others as alternatives.
C, C++, and Java are listed as interchangeable high-level language options ('such as C, C++, or Java'); C is used as the primary with C++ and Java as alternatives. Python is listed separately as a scripting language option and is emitted as its own required skill.
MIL-STD-1553, ARINC-429, and RS-422 are listed as interchangeable communication protocol examples under Preferred Qualifications; MIL-STD-1553 is the primary with the others as alternatives.
LDRA and VectorCast are listed together as preferred software test tools; they are interchangeable options for that requirement and are captured as one preferred skill with an alternative.
Requires a 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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