Senior Systems Engineer at Leidos in Gaithersburg, MD

Senior Systems Engineer Location: Eagan, MN Leidos is seeking SeniorSystems Engineers to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, supporting the development of the Alaska Automation Capability (AAC). AAC is part of the FAA’s broader initiative to modernize legacy flight service systems, replacing aging infrastructure with a scalable, cloud-based platform designed to improve safety and operational efficiency—particularly in remote and high-dependency aviation environments like Alaska. AAC is a mission-critical, future-ready, cloud-based solution providing safety-critical flight services to the pilot community. As a member of a Scaled Agile software development organization, you will contribute to the technical execution of a program that integrates proven, globally deployed technologies with modern cloud-native capabilities. You will work alongside cross-functional teams and technical leaders to deliver predictable outcomes in a highly regulated, safety-critical environment. In this position, you will serve as a Product Owner for a development team in an Agile/SAFe environment, assisting in the design and implementation of software solutions alongside your team while working with program architects, stakeholders, product delivery, and DevSecOps teams. This position supports government programs and requires the ability to obtain and maintain a favorable Public Trust investigation. Primary Responsibilities: Review FAA requirement documents, advisory circulars, and applicable regulations (e.g., 14 CFR parts) to extract intent, constraints, and acceptance criteria. Manage the backlog for one or more Agile teams, prioritizing features based on stakeholder needs, and ensuring the development team builds the right functionality. Engage with customer stakeholders to identify use cases with an emphasis on completeness, testability, alignment with operational workflows, and readiness for validation trials. Decompose high-level regulatory requirements into specific, testable capability statements (Agile features) with clear acceptance criteria mapped to FAA compliance outcomes (e.g., performance thresholds, safety margins, required reporting formats). Systematically capture and communicate design decisions, performance trade-offs, regulatory compliance rationales, and risk assessments with each release, enabling reviewers to trace your decision-making process and provide informed feedback. Prepare and review technical documentation, including use cases, user interface specifications, and requirements traceability. Lead and participate in structured reviews and inspections. Required Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field and at least 8 years of relevant experience or a Master's degree with at least 6 years of experience Experience and familiarity with Agile methodology, principles, and tools Experience in the role of the Agile Product Owner, including owning and prioritizing the product backlog, defining complete product backlog items (user stories), making timely decisions on scope, and acceptance of work Strong understanding of disciplined engineering processes, including attention to detail Past practical exposure to writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining software or scripts Clear and effective verbal and written communication Experience with the design of cloud-based systems Experience in engaging customers to understand needs, deliver solutions, manage expectations, and maintain an ongoing relationship Ability to obtain SF-85 Public Trust suitability determination US Citizenship Preferred Qualifications Experience with Java, Python, React, and scripting languages Knowledge of and experience with AI-assisted development workflows and tools (i.e. Claude Code, Codex, etc.) Knowledge of and experience with DevSecOps practices and CI/CD pipelines Knowledge of air traffic control systems, general aviation, and/or flight services Practical knowledge of FAA/DoD systems, technical policies, standards and orders Experience with leveraging requirement-management tools (CAMEO, DOORS, Jama, Jira with traceability plugins, etc.) and documentation platforms that support linking, reviews, and exportable RTMs ATMC If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares. Original Posting: April 29, 2026 For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above. Pay Range: Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00 The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law. Additional Locations: Ashburn, VA, Gaithersburg, MD