Systems Engineer SME

Lead the technical vision and shape the future of the Chinook Program supporting the customer’s mission-critical application. This high-impact leadership role is for an engineering expert who thrives on solving enterprise-scale challenges, influencing technical strategy, and mentoring high-performing teams.

About the role

As the Systems Engineering Subject Matter Expert (SME), you will serve as the technical authority for systems engineering activities, guiding the architecture and future direction of the application while ensuring engineering excellence across the program. You will monitor systems, troubleshoot anomalies, and interact with end users, security teams, cloud provisioning, and external interfaces. Additionally, you will provide feedback to development leads and test engineers to enhance software effectiveness and reliability, maintain system documentation, and present updates to end users and government managers.

Locations: Gaithersburg, MD; Alexandria, VA; Chantilly, VA; Englewood, CO; St. Louis, MO; Tucson, AZ.

Clearance: Active Top Secret/SCI with the ability to successfully pass a Polygraph examination.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical lead and systems engineering authority for the customer application.
• Define system architecture, engineering standards, technical roadmaps, and modernization strategies.
• Manage and maintain cloud-based application systems to ensure high availability, reliability, and performance.
• Troubleshoot complex technical issues and develop effective solutions to support system functionality and operational needs.
• Evaluate opportunities in the use of AI tools and how they can be applied to troubleshooting and system monitoring.
• Lead requirements analysis, system design, integration, verification, and validation activities.
• Guide technical decision making across cross-functional engineering teams.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend innovative solutions to improve system capabilities.
• Lead technical risk identification, mitigation planning, and engineering trade studies.
• Mentor systems engineers and promote engineering best practices across the program.
• Partner with program leadership and stakeholders to align technical solutions with mission objectives.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance system performance, scalability, security, and maintainability.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship is required per contract.
• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or related field and 12-15 years of prior relevant experience, or Master’s with 10-13 years of prior relevant experience. May possess a Doctorate in a technical domain.
• 12+ years of progressive systems engineering experience supporting software-intensive systems or enterprise systems.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical teams and influencing engineering strategy.
• Deep knowledge of systems architecture, integration, lifecycle engineering, and systems thinking.
• Experience leading engineering efforts within Agile and DevSecOps environments.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, collaboration, and technical mentoring skills.

Qualifications

• Experience supporting large-scale government or mission-focused programs.
• Demonstrated use of AI tools to optimize systems or ideas of how AI tools could be deployed to manage tasks described in the job description.
• Expertise in cloud-native architecture, distributed systems, and enterprise modernization.
• Systems Engineering Professional (SEP), INCOSE, CISSP, Security+, or similar credentials.
• Proficient in Python or C++ software development, automation, and system support.
• Experience working with Linux operating systems in support of application deployment, automation, and systems support.
• Proven success leading multidisciplinary engineering teams across complex technical programs.

Pay

Pay Range: $131,300.00 - $237,350.00. 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

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave, and Retirement. More details are available at www.leidos.com/careers/pay-benefits.