System Architect

Leidos; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos Australia seeks a systems architect to define and govern the architecture of complex systems from concept through delivery. You will translate operational needs into coherent structures and guide cross-disciplinary teams through significant technical decisions.

You’ll develop system architectures, decompose requirements, and lead architecture reviews while maintaining alignment between architecture and implementation in a fast-paced, mission-critical environment.

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:

• Flex Your Way – Tailor work to your life with options including Life Days (up to 12 extra days off per year), part-time arrangements, job sharing, and compressed hours.
• Wellbeing That Matters – Free access to Headspace and MeQuilibrium, plus dedicated wellness spaces to support your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing.
• Learn Without Limits – Access over 120,000 on-demand courses, alongside technical, project management, leadership, and professional development opportunities.
• Work That Makes an Impact – Contribute to nationally significant projects that matter, solve complex challenges, and accelerate your career through unique growth opportunities.
• Build Your Future – Whether you're deepening technical expertise or preparing for leadership, we'll invest in your development every step of the way.
• And Much More – These are just a few of the ways we invest in our people and help them thrive.

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.

Mission Software Systems (MSS) brings together expertise across intelligence, software, and cloud to deliver end-to-end capability supporting the full intelligence lifecycle, from planning through to dissemination and feedback. The team fosters a culture of innovation, leveraging modern engineering practices and shared infrastructure to rapidly build, test, and deploy software solutions across a range of environments, including cloud. MSS also plays a key role in advancing technology modernisation within Government, delivering scalable and adaptable solutions for complex enterprise challenges.

The Opportunity

In this role, you will define and govern the architecture of complex systems from concept through delivery and sustainment. You will translate operational needs into coherent system structures, interfaces and design principles while guiding teams through significant technical decisions.

• Develop system architectures, viewpoints, models and technical roadmaps aligned with capability and lifecycle requirements.
• Decompose operational needs into system requirements, functions, components and interfaces.
• Lead architecture reviews, option assessments and technical trade studies, documenting decisions and constraints.
• Work with engineering, security, integration and project teams to maintain architectural integrity as the solution evolves.

About You

You can move comfortably between strategic context and technical detail. You bring systems thinking, communicate architecture clearly and can guide multidisciplinary teams through competing constraints and design choices.

• Experience developing system, solution or enterprise architectures for complex technical environments.
• Knowledge of requirements decomposition, functional analysis, interfaces and systems engineering lifecycle practices.
• Capability in architecture modelling, design documentation and technical governance.
• Experience evaluating solution options and communicating trade-offs, risks and recommendations.
• Ability to collaborate across engineering disciplines and maintain alignment between architecture and implementation.
• Experience engaging customers, technical authorities and delivery leadership.

Advantageous:

• Knowledge of recognised architecture frameworks or modelling languages.
• Experience with model-based systems engineering or digital engineering tools.
• Exposure to secure, safety-critical or mission-critical systems.

This role does requires the successful applicant to be an Australian Citizen and hold an active TSPV Clearance, accompanied by the ability to be successful for OSA.

Due to the nature of our work, applicants must be Australian Citizens and be eligible to obtain and maintain the security clearance required for the role.

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.