Senior Systems Engineer

The Senior Systems Engineer role at Leidos supports the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, helping deliver next-generation flight service and air traffic systems. This position operates as a Product Owner in an Agile/SAFe environment and contributes to regulated, safety-critical government programs.

Location

Ashburn, VA (onsite)

Pay Range

USD 107,900 - 195,050 per year

Role Summary

In this position, you will interpret FAA requirements and translate them into testable, capability-focused requirements that support validation trials and regulatory compliance. You will manage backlog priorities across one or more Agile teams, coordinate with customer stakeholders, and provide documented design and risk rationales for structured reviews and inspections.

Key Responsibilities

• Review FAA requirement documents, advisory circulars, and applicable regulations (including 14 CFR parts) to extract intent, constraints, and acceptance criteria.
• Own and manage the backlog for one or more Agile teams, prioritizing features based on stakeholder needs and ensuring the team builds the correct functionality.
• Collaborate with customer stakeholders to define use cases with emphasis on completeness, testability, alignment to operational workflows, and readiness for validation trials.
• Decompose high-level regulatory requirements into specific, testable capability statements (Agile features) with acceptance criteria mapped to FAA compliance outcomes, including performance thresholds, safety margins, and required reporting formats.
• Capture and communicate design decisions, performance trade-offs, regulatory compliance rationales, and risk assessments with each release to support traceability and reviewer feedback.
• Prepare and review technical documentation, including use cases, user interface specifications, and requirements traceability artifacts.
• Lead and participate in structured reviews and inspections.

Minimum Requirements

• 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 with Agile methodology, principles, and tools.
• Experience in the Agile Product Owner role, including backlog ownership and prioritization, defining complete product backlog items (user stories), making timely scope decisions, and accepting work.
• Strong understanding of disciplined engineering processes and attention to detail.
• Hands-on exposure to writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining software or scripts.
• Clear verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience with the design of cloud-based systems.
• Experience engaging customers to understand needs, deliver solutions, manage expectations, and maintain an ongoing relationship.
• Ability to obtain an SF-85 Public Trust suitability determination.
• US Citizenship.

Technologies

• Agile, Agile/SAFe, Java, Python, React
• Claude Code, Codex
• DevSecOps, CI/CD
• CAMEO, DOORS, Jama, Jira
• SF-85

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Java, Python, React, and scripting languages.
• Knowledge of and experience with AI-assisted development workflows and tools (e.g., Claude Code, Codex).
• 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 leveraging requirement-management tools (CAMEO, DOORS, Jama, Jira with traceability plugins, etc.) and documentation platforms that support linking, reviews, and exportable RTMs.

Benefits

• Health and Wellness programs
• Income Protection
• Paid Leave
• Retirement

Posting Information

Original Posting Date: 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.