Lead Test Automation Engineer - Level 4

Northrop Grumman is a global aerospace and defense technology company known for its revolutionary systems that impact people’s lives worldwide, both today and for future generations. With a rich history that includes pioneering achievements such as the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, the development of stealth bombers, and landing on the moon, Northrop Grumman continues to lead the way in technological advancement. The company fosters a culture that thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity, and encourages employees to bring their whole selves to work. The team is driven by an insatiable desire to accomplish the impossible, making employees not only participants in history but active creators of it.

Within Northrop Grumman’s Space Systems sector, the Multi-Domain Operations and Missile Defense Integration Business Unit offers a dynamic and challenging career opportunity for a Test Engineer Lead focused on Test Automation at Level 4. This position will be part of the Modeling and Simulation Vistas – Threat and Advanced Simulations Development (MSV-TASD) program. The role involves on-site work at Schriever Space Force Base and the Northrop Grumman facility in Colorado Springs, CO, with limited remote work options.

The Test Engineer Lead will have a vital leadership role overseeing test engineering, emphasizing automated test design, development, and integration. This position is responsible for transitioning several software projects and their application suites from manual testing methods to predominantly automated testing strategies. This transformation requires a deep understanding of test automation frameworks, tools, and agile development practices.

The role supports the development and verification of TASD software products across an extensive portfolio, including Threat Modeling and Simulation Software (TMSS), Red-Force Objective Simulation Environment (ROSE), Missile Defense Advanced Simulation (MDASim), Threat Generator External (TGx), and the Missile Defense Space Tool (MDST). Responsibilities encompass designing, testing, analyzing, benchmarking, validating, verifying, documenting, automating, and integrating these products.

Key activities include leading the test automation strategy development, selecting and integrating test automation frameworks for unit, API/service, and UI/client testing, and defining consistent standards for their use across teams. The Test Engineer Lead will also create automated regression, integration, and end-to-end test suites for client-server and cloud-based simulations, develop and utilize test tools and harnesses, and train other test engineers. Furthermore, the role requires embedding automation into CI/CD pipelines, supporting agile teams, and coaching software teams on building testable, test-friendly applications.

Leadership responsibilities extend to improving product quality through rigorous testing and peer reviews and interfacing with customers and stakeholders to communicate test strategies and results effectively. The successful candidate will thrive in a fast-paced, high-expectation environment with diverse, collaborative assignments.

This position requires a Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline with eight years of related experience, or equivalent advanced degrees, and mandates an active U.S. Government Secret clearance or an interim secret clearance to start. A competitive salary range of $117,500 to $176,300 is offered, along with benefits such as health insurance, life and disability insurance, savings plans, company-paid holidays, and paid time off. Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to diversity and inclusion, ensuring equitable opportunities for all candidates without regard to race, gender, or other protected classifications. U.S. citizenship is a requirement due to the government clearance nature of the role.