RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be availableCLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: YesCLEARANCE TYPE: Top SecretTRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the TimeDescriptionAt 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.Help define how the Air Force delivers mission capability in the cloud.Northrop Grumman Defense Systems (NGDS) is seeking a Dedicated Cloud Engineer to support DAF CLOUDworks, a rapidly growing secure cloud program that encompasses 10+ teams across information security, infrastructure development, and cloud migration.You will work directly with DAF CLOUDworks mission partners to rapidly enable required application functionality and evolve secure cloud offerings—implementing new requirements, enhancing functionality, increasing efficiency, and reducing operating/deployment costs. Successful candidates will be strong communicators and problem solvers who build and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.What You’ll DoWork side‑by‑side with mission partners to enable and deploy cloud‑hosted applications and services.Design, implement, and support solutions in Kubernetes‑centric, cloud environments.Automate deployment, configuration, and monitoring using GitOps and CI/CD pipelines.Integrate and manage infrastructure components including networking, storage, Linux/Windows hosts, and security controls.Contribute to platform engineering efforts to improve reliability, scalability, and security across the DAF CLOUDworks environment.Diagnose complex issues across applications, networks, containers, and cloud platforms, and drive them to resolution.This position description does not represent a current opening but may be used to identify candidates with skills and experience for positions within Northrop Grumman that frequently become available. Candidates who express an interest may be considered for future positions at Northrop Grumman.Basic QualificationsPrincipal Engineer (Level 3):High school diploma with 9+ years of relevant experienceOR bachelor’s degree with 5+ years of relevant experienceOR master’s degree with 3+ years of relevant experienceSr. Principal Engineer (Level 4):High school diploma with 12+ years of relevant experienceOR bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of relevant experienceOR master’s degree with 6+ years of relevant experienceActive Top Secret clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI)Ability to obtain IAT Level II certification per DoD 8570.01 (such as CASP+ or Security+) within 60 days of start dateTechnical knowledge of infrastructure components, including:NetworkStorageLinux/WindowsIT security conceptsWorking knowledge and/or familiarity with cloud‑based technologies, such as:AWS PlatformAzure PlatformGoogle Cloud PlatformExperience with Kustomize and HelmExperience with LinuxExperience with GitOps and CI/CD, with an emphasis on GitLabExperience in application deployment and release managementExperience with containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift)Experience with CI/CD tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, CircleCI, ArgoCD)Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform, Ansible, or similar toolsExperience with monitoring and logging tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack)Proficiency in at least one scripting language (Python, Bash)Strong understanding of application deployment strategies (e.g., blue/green, canary)Preferred QualificationsExperience with microservice orchestration, with a strong focus on KubernetesFundamental cloud certifications such as:AWS Cloud Practitioner (or higher)Azure Fundamentals (or higher)Experience with advanced application and network troubleshooting, database administration, and PKI managementExperience with cloud providers, with an emphasis on AWS servicesExperience with Agile methodologiesExperience with various forms of automation, including:Batch scriptingPipeline automationKubernetes operatorsInfrastructure‑as‑code (e.g., Terraform, Ansible)Experience with cloud‑native application architecturesExperience with service mesh technologies (e.g., Istio, Linkerd)Experience with security scanning and vulnerability management toolsExperience with platform engineering conceptsPrimary Level Salary Range: $98,400.00 - $155,400.00Secondary Level Salary Range: $122,800.00 - $193,900.00The 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.