Senior Systems Engineer

Leidos; Adelaide; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Extra leave

Learning & certs

Cross-program experience

Career pathways

Job summary

Leidos Australia is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to contribute to the Gibbs & Cox Australia team, delivering outcomes that matter across naval design, systems integration and sustainment. You will review deliverables, manage requirements, support change and risk management, and engage with Commonwealth, Navy and industry stakeholders to influence decisions.

This role requires Australian citizenship and NV1 clearance; you will work in a Defence environment with opportunities to advance

Qualifications

• Strong systems engineering and organisational capability in complex engineering programmes demonstrated through maritime or naval project experience.
• Demonstrated experience in requirements management, engineering change management, or verification and validation (V&V).
• Sound understanding of ship design, build and operations, and the technical, project and operational implications of engineering decisions.
• Strong technical judgement and communication skills, with demonstrated ability to explain complex technical issues and influence senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries.
• Ability to operate independently in a complex Defence environment, exercising sound judgement with limited guidance and maintaining effective stakeholder engagement.

Responsibilities

• Provide engineering expertise, assurance and advice by reviewing technical deliverables, plans and engineering outcomes, and advising senior project engineering stakeholders on technical issues and solutions.
• Coordinate systems change across the ship design, including technical data management and systems change management through the end of the design phase and into production.
• Support requirements, engineering change and technical risk management, assessing design and production issues, system characteristics, likely performance and compliance with relevant technical requirements.
• Support design integration through verification and validation, identifying practical solutions that enable programme delivery while meeting Engineering Directorate requirements.
• Engage with Commonwealth, Navy and industry stakeholders, building the relationships and technical credibility needed to influence outcomes and support project decisions.

Skills

Systems engineering

Requirements management

Engineering change management

Verification & Validation

Stakeholder management

Independent work

Job description

At Leidos Australia, our work goes beyond a job title. We design, build, operate and support the systems, services and capabilities that help protect and advance the Australian way of life.

Backed by a global organisation of more than 40,000 people, our Australian team of around 2,000 has partnered with government, defence and national security customers for more than 30 years. We deliver mission‑critical solutions where reliability, trust and purpose matter.

Leidos is a destination for people who want their work to have purpose, their contribution to be recognised, and their career to grow without needing to fit a single mould. Meaningful work is supported by benefits, flexibility and career pathways that help you grow while balancing life outside work.

This includes:

• Up to 12 Life Days of additional leave each year
• Support for learning, development and relevant certifications
• Opportunities to work across programs, domains and emerging technologies
• Career pathways that can evolve with your interests, capability and ambition

About the Team

You’ll join a team where people work with integrity, inclusion, innovation, agility, collaboration and commitment. In practice, that means sharing ownership, solving complex problems together and staying connected to the customer context, the purpose behind the work and how each role contributes to meaningful outcomes.

We provide world-leading naval and marine engineering expertise in support of Australia’s maritime enterprise. Through our highly skilled team of naval architects, engineers and maritime specialists, we support major Australian naval programs and emerging maritime technologies across ship design, engineering, systems integration, acquisition and sustainment.

Leveraging nearly a century of naval design excellence and access to Gibbs & Cox’s global network of specialists, we help deliver complex maritime projects that strengthen Australia’s sovereign shipbuilding, naval design and maritime capability.

The Opportunity

As a Senior Systems Engineer, this role is an opportunity to contribute to the Leidos Gibbs & Cox Australia team by delivering outcomes that matter.

In this role, you will:

• Provide engineering expertise, assurance and advice by reviewing technical deliverables, plans and engineering outcomes, and advising senior project engineering stakeholders on technical issues and solutions.
• Coordinate systems change across the ship design, including technical data management and systems change management through the end of the design phase and into production.
• Support requirements, engineering change and technical risk management, assessing design and production issues, system characteristics, likely performance and compliance with relevant technical requirements.
• Support design integration through verification and validation, identifying practical solutions that enable programme delivery while meeting Engineering Directorate requirements.
• Engage with Commonwealth, Navy and industry stakeholders, building the relationships and technical credibility needed to influence outcomes and support project decisions.

About You

We are looking for someone who brings judgement, curiosity and a collaborative approach to work that matters.

Essential for this role:

• Strong systems engineering and organisational capability in complex engineering programmes demonstrated through maritime or naval project experience.
• Demonstrated experience in requirements management, engineering change management, or verification and validation (V&V). Preferably this will have been gained during build, test, and acceptance stages of a project.
• Sound understanding of ship design, build and operations, and the technical, project and operational implications of engineering decisions.
• Strong technical judgement and communication skills, with demonstrated ability to explain complex technical issues and influence senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries.
• Ability to operate independently in a complex Defence environment, exercising sound judgement with limited guidance and maintaining effective stakeholder engagement.

This role requires the successful applicant to be an Australian citizen and hold, or be eligible to obtain, NV1 security clearance.

Certain roles may be subject International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) requirements which may limit persons who hold dual nationality with certain proscribed countries from accessing material, or in the case of dual Australian-U.S citizens, may require the candidate to obtain a U.S. Persons Abroad authorisation from the U.S DDTC.

If this role interests you, we encourage you to apply. We value different experiences and are interested in the capability and potential you could bring.

What to Expect When You Apply

Our hiring process is designed to be straightforward, respectful and easy to navigate. If your skills, experience and qualifications look aligned with the role, our Talent Acquisition team will contact you to discuss the next stage. You can expect:

• An initial conversation with our Talent Acquisition team
• An interview with the hiring manager or interview panel
• Any role‑specific assessment, technical discussion or customer step required for the position

We’ll let you know what to expect before each stage, including who you’ll meet and how to prepare. If you need any adjustments or support during the process, please let us know.

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 at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.