Principal Software Engineer - System Infrastructure Engineering at Northrop Grumman
San Diego, CA
$103,600–$155,400from the description
Jul 9, 2026
San Diego, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A systems infrastructure engineering role focused on administering and maintaining Linux (RHEL/CentOS) and Windows server environments, VMware vSphere infrastructure, and enforcing cybersecurity compliance using STIG and SCAP tooling. The position also involves leading a small engineering team, sustaining an Agile workflow, and automating maintenance tasks through scripting. Suits an experienced systems administrator with a background in classified defense environments.
Senior level · 5+ years · Remote · Bachelor's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Mid, 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 $101,310 (middle half $79,725–$129,425). 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 (10)
The job title is 'Software Engineer 3', which at Northrop Grumman maps to a mid-level title numbering convention; however, the actual requirements (5+ years, 4 years of RHEL and Windows administration, team leadership, clearance) support a Senior-level classification.
The role's primary day-to-day work is systems administration and cybersecurity compliance (RHEL/Windows/VMware administration, STIG/SCAP enforcement), making 15-1244 the best fit; 15-1212 is a plausible runner-up given the heavy cybersecurity compliance emphasis.
The posting is explicitly located in San Diego, CA; the caller has declared this fully remote, so no metro is set and remote=true is applied per caller instruction.
Degree requirement: the JD requires a Bachelor's in a STEM discipline with 5 years, a Master's with 3 years, or a PhD with 0 years — no equivalent-experience substitution is offered, so Bachelors is set as the minimum hard-required degree.
Scripting tools (PowerShell, Python, Ansible) are listed together as interchangeable options in the requirements section; PowerShell is named first with Python and Ansible as alternatives. Ansible also appears separately under Preferred Qualifications, so it is additionally captured as a preferred skill.
Nessus is mentioned in the requirements section with 'eventually' qualifying its use ('eventually Nessus'), suggesting it is a near-term expectation rather than a current hard gate; it is retained as the required/preferred flag given its placement in the Basic Qualifications block.
DoD IAT security certification (Security+, CISSP, etc.) is a hard gate per the Basic Qualifications; candidates may be 'in the process of obtaining one', so it is a required credential but with some flexibility on timing.
VMware vSphere experience and Ansible are listed under Preferred Qualifications and are marked accordingly.
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.
Caller marked this a fully-remote role — scored against the national candidate pool.
Read the full posting
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