Lead AI Software Developer

Leidos is seeking a Lead AI Software Developer to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, supporting the development of the Leidos Common Baseline. Common Baseline is a mission-critical, future-ready automation solution built on a hybrid cloud data mesh architecture. This role contributes to a program integrating globally deployed technologies with modern cloud-native and AI-enabled capabilities in a highly regulated, safety-critical environment.

About the role

As a member of a Scaled Agile software development organization, you will design and implement software solutions independently while collaborating with systems engineering, product delivery, and DevSecOps teams. The primary focus is on developing microservices-based applications within an Agile/SAFe environment, with a strong emphasis on AI-enabled or data-driven systems. This position supports government programs and requires the ability to obtain and maintain a favorable Public Trust investigation.

This is a hybrid position located in Gaithersburg, MD or Egg Harbor Township, NJ, requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days working from home. The role involves building and modernizing real-time, safety-critical systems that directly support national air traffic operations, applying AI tools to accelerate development, improve quality, and enhance system reliability.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain microservices-based applications using modern software engineering best practices
• Collaborate with product owners, architects, and engineers in an Agile/SAFe environment
• Participate in sprint planning, daily standups, reviews, and retrospectives
• Translate requirements into working software solutions in collaboration with systems engineering and program teams
• Develop clean, maintainable, and testable code following CI/CD and DevSecOps practices
• Contribute to system design discussions and technical decision-making
• Integrate services with databases, messaging systems, and external APIs
• Support troubleshooting, performance tuning, and continuous improvement
• Work closely with QA, DevOps, and platform teams to ensure reliable delivery
• Implement modern automated testing strategies, including unit, integration, contract, and end-to-end testing
• Use AI-assisted development tools to accelerate coding, refactoring, debugging, and test creation

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience)
• 4+ years of relevant experience or a Master's Degree and 2+ years of relevant experience
• Hands-on experience building and supporting microservices-based systems
• Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Java, Python, C++, or similar on a Linux-based system)
• Experience or exposure to AI/ML-enabled systems, automation, or intelligent platforms
• Experience working in Agile environments
• Understanding of APIs and distributed system concepts
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust
• U.S. citizenship required
• Successful completion of background investigations as required by the government customer

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Git-based version control and CI/CD pipelines
• Familiarity with Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
• Experience working with relational and/or NoSQL databases
• Hands-on experience with Kafka or other event-streaming technologies
• Cloud experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Containerization and orchestration experience (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience working in DevSecOps environments
• Experience with test automation frameworks and integration of automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines

Pay

Pay Range: $87,100.00 - $157,450.00. 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.

Benefits

Leidos offers competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave, and Retirement. More details are available at www.leidos.com/careers/pay-benefits.