DevOpsJobs
RoleSuite
CompaniesRemoteAboutMethodologyContactPrivacy
Updated 2026-06-29 16:00 UTC·© 2025–2026 RoleSuite
← Back to listings

Principal Linux Systems Administrator / Sr. Principal Linux Systems Administrator (AHT)

Northrop Grumman · United States-California-Redondo Beach

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes

CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret

TRAVEL: No

Description

At 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.

Northrop Grumman Defense Systems seeks a Linux Systems Administrator to join our diverse team, working on the Forward Area Air Defense (FAAD) portfolio of programs in Redondo Beach, CA. The selected candidate will perform system administration duties for an Army Air Defense System that includes defense against manned aircraft; rockets, artillery, and mortars; unmanned aerial systems (UAS); and cruise missile defense.

This requisition may be filled at the Principal or Senior Principal Systems Administrator level:

  • Principal Systems Administrator - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related discipline (and 5 years of relevant experience in Object Oriented Languages (OOL); or 3 Years with Masters; 0 Years with PhD) or 9 years of experience in lieu of degree may be considered
  • Senior Principal Systems Administrator - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related discipline (and 8 years of relevant experience in Object Oriented Languages (OOL); or 6 Years with Masters; 3 Years with PhD) or 12 years of experience in lieu of degree may be considered

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Administer, monitor, and maintain Linux-based systems in lab and development environments, including configuration, patching, and troubleshooting
  • Load, customize, and harden Linux development workstations and servers to meet program security and performance requirements
  • Troubleshoot and repair hardware problems, including diagnosing faulty components and coordinating repair or replacement
  • Respond rapidly to high priority incidents, diagnose root causes across OS, network, and hardware layers, and restore service for critical lab environments
  • Collaborate closely with software developers and other engineering teams to support build environments, development workflows, and OS-related issues
  • Document system configurations, procedures, and changes, and contribute to maintaining accurate lab infrastructure inventories

Basic Qualifications:

  • Strong understanding of Linux system administration (Red Hat or similar enterprise distributions) in lab, development, or production environments
  • Experience installing, configuring, and troubleshooting Linux operating systems, software, servers, and associated lab hardware, including managing user accounts, groups, and file system permissions
  • Experience troubleshooting operating systems, networks, and hardware issues across servers and workstations
  • Experience performing OS level package management, building and maintaining custom RPMs, handling kernel/driver interactions, and conducting performance tuning in Linux environments
  • Familiarity with scripting (e.g., shell scripting) for system configuration, automation, and maintenance tasks
  • Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with engineers and technical leads on schedule driven programs
  • Hold or able to obtain DoD Secret clearance

Following are good to have, but are not required:

  • Familiarity with virtualization platforms (e.g., VMware) and applying security patches and updates to virtualized environments
  • Experience supporting backup and restore solutions
  • Experience with vulnerability scanning and security compliance, applying OS/security patches, managing patch repositories, and maintaining antivirus tools
  • Experience supporting build and deployment environments, including maintaining build scripts and installation media for development environments
  • Current DoD Secret clearance

Primary Level Salary Range: $103,600.00 - $155,400.00

Secondary Level Salary Range: $129,300.00 - $193,900.00

The 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.

DevOps pay context

Based on 1,225 disclosed DevOps salaries on RoleSuite, the role pays a median of $140K/year, with most offers between $115K and $172K (10th–90th percentile: $100K–$210K).

This posting lists $104K–$155K, in line with the $140K market median.

See the full DevOps salary breakdown →
Apply →

Other roles at Northrop Grumman

  • Field Engineer (AHT)United States-Alabama-Huntsville
  • Structures Engineer Mechanical - Level 2 - DullesUnited States-Virginia-Dulles
  • ALMDS Senior Principal Software EngineerUnited States-Florida-Melbourne
  • Associate Engineer ElectricalUnited States-Virginia-Dulles
  • Principal Systems AdministratorAustralia-Tindal
  • Business Management Manager 3United States-Alabama-Huntsville
  • Risk Issue and Opportunity ManagerAustralia-Edinburgh Parks
  • 2026 Associate Software Digital Engineer - Rolling Meadows IL - Rolling Meadows ILUnited States-Illinois-Rolling Meadows
  • 2026 Associate Embedded Software Engineer - Rolling Meadows ILUnited States-Illinois-Rolling Meadows
  • U103 PreStage ToolSetterUnited States-California-Sunnyvale

More DevOps roles

  • Platform Engineer, APIs & ObservabilityStack AI · Poland - Warsaw Office
  • HPC Systems ArchitectIMC Trading · Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Staff Software Engineer - Databases SRE | Germany | RemoteGrafana Labs · Germany (Remote)
  • Staff Software Engineer - Databases SRE | Sweden | RemoteGrafana Labs · Sweden (Remote)
  • Staff Software Engineer - Databases SRE | Spain | RemoteGrafana Labs · Spain (Remote)
  • Staff Software Engineer - Databases SRE | UK | RemoteGrafana Labs · United Kingdom (Remote)
  • Site Reliability EngineerTrainline · London
  • Senior Lead Cloud EngineerJobgether · US
  • DevOps / Cloud Engineer PLJobgether · Brazil
  • Senior Site Reliability EngineerJobgether · Brazil