Control Systems Software Engineer – Industrial Communications

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.
 

Role

The software team is part of the Control Systems group within the Engineering department based in New Malden. The team provides software design and development expertise for maritime control and instrumentation systems throughout the product lifecycle.

As a key member of the software engineering team, this role will be to deliver software artefacts associated with industrial networking and communications whilst working to a full software development lifecycle through process and procedural activities.

Key Responsibilities

• Write Functional and Design specification for all aspects of code development
• Implement clear, easy to maintain, high quality code that is optimized for performance.
• Capture, interpret and develop customer requirements.
• Report task status to the Lead Software Engineer and the project management team.
• Assist in the production of robust development lifecycles and suitable workflows and for both Software and Hardware architectures.
• Produce technical and detailed design documentation in accordance with company/customer procedures.
• Specify, design and de-risk solutions for Industrial networking hardware such as switches, gateways and interface convertors.
• Develop and integrate industrial communications using industrial fieldbus technology.
• Implement data communications with third party equipment.
• Validate software concept designs through analysis and de-risking test.
• Provide SME support to engineering teams as required.
• Work with subcontractors to investigate and develop solutions.
• Be aware of and comply with company standards of conduct and all relevant statutory requirements.
• Carry out any other reasonable management request.
• Conduct / support Factory Acceptance Tests with sub suppliers and customers.

General Operational duties

• Support the Lead Software Engineer in providing a professional and engaged team.
• Remain compliant with all applicable business processes and procedures.
• Understand and apply all policies, processes and procedures around people management, compliance and governance.

Essential qualifications / competency requirements 

• Design and integration of PLC & SCADA Control Systems.
• An understanding of the Open Systems Interconnection Model (OSI).
• Experienced in the development and implementation of Industrial Communication protocols including but not limited to: Profibus, Profinet, Profisafe, Ethernet/IP, Modbus, TCP/IP, UDP, OPC (DA/UA).
• Experienced in the development and integration of serial data communications such as: RS232, RS422 and RS485.
• An understanding of Industrial Communication standards such as: IEC61158, 61784, 61850
• Experienced in the implementation of networking technologies such as but not limited:
  • Layers 2 & 3 management.
  • VLANs.
  • Redundancy.
  • VPNs.
  • Transport Layer Security.
  • Routing.
  • Simple Network Management Protocol.
• Have an understanding of Secure & Safe data communications with experience of Black Channel communications
• Experience with unit test frameworks.
• Experience of Software Configuration Management and version control.
• 3+ years systems design and programming experience.
• Degree, HND, HNC or equivalent in Electrical/Electronic engineering or a related discipline e.g. Control Systems Engineering, Systems Engineering.
• Strong IT skills, in particular with MS Office products.
• British national and citizen. Able to obtain Security Clearance (SC).

Essential personal attributes

• Adept at problem-solving, able to develop solutions to a variety of problems.
• Good attention to detail.
• Organised, adept at workload management and prioritising appropriately to meet deadlines.
• Flexible and responsive to changing priorities.
• Proactive team worker, equally self-motivated and able to work autonomously.
• Good interpersonal skills, able to engage effectively with all audiences/stakeholders.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.
• Strong customer focus.
• Engaging ‘can do’ attitude.

Desirable qualifications / competencies

• Experienced in design and integration of Programmable Logic Controllers – PLCs (Rockwell and Siemens).
• Design and integration of Large scale SCADA systems.

• Specification and analysis of COTS equipment.
• Experience with Object oriented programming languages like C++,C#, JAVA
• Siemens WinCC OA (Open Architecture) development experience.
• Understanding of IEC 61131. 
• Understanding of Functional Safety (BS EN 61508, 61511 or 62061).
• Software testing and verification.
• Experience within defence, maritime, aerospace, or a similarly regulated industrial sector.
• Ship’s machinery and control systems.
• An understanding of Systems Engineering practices and philosophies (MBSE)
• Experienced in the application of Agile methodologies such as XP, Scrum, Kanban
• Oracle/SQL Database administration

Other requirements

• Travel requirements: Occasional UK travel may be required to attend team/customer meetings and training activities

• Clearance requirements: Post-holder must hold and maintain UK Government clearances where required

Northrop Grumman is committed to equality and diversity in our workplace. Northrop Grumman provides equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants without regard to an individual's protected status, including race/ethnic origin, color, nationality, national origin, ancestry, sex/gender, gender identity/expression, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, religion or belief, creed, age, disability, genetic information, or any other protected status or characteristic.