AI Engineer

Leidos Inc; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 107,900 - 195,050; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Time Off

401K with a 6% company match

Flexible Schedules

Job summary

Leidos Inc is seeking an AI Engineer in San Diego, California, to support AI‑Enabled software modernization efforts. The candidate will lead a large engineering team, build advanced AI/ML tools, and collaborate closely with mission stakeholders to integrate AI into existing workflows.

A bachelor's degree and at least 8 years of related experience are required, with an active Secret clearance preferred. Additionally, strong knowledge in AI development, security compliance, and modern AI infrastructure is essential. Competitive benefits and compensation are part of the package offered.

Qualifications

• At least 8+ years of related experience.
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools.
• Experience deploying AI/ML services in containerized environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead AI development across a 20+ person engineering team.
• Build AI/ML tools including LLM orchestration and automation workflows.
• Collaborate with customers through technical meetings and architecture reviews.

Skills

Software engineering

AI/ML techniques

AI-enabled SDLC Architecture

Security compliance

CI/CD automation

Education

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

OpenCode

Job description

Description

Leidos has a new and exciting opportunity for an AI Engineer in our National Security Sector's (NSS) Cyber & Analytics Business Area (CABA). Our talented team is at the forefront in Security Engineering, Computer Network Operations (CNO), Mission Software, Analytical Methods and Modeling, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), and Cryptographic Key Management. At Leidos, we offer competitive benefits, including Paid Time Off, 11 paid Holidays, 401K with a 6% company match and immediate vesting, Flexible Schedules, Discounted Stock Purchase Plans, Technical Upskilling, Education and Training Support, Parental Paid Leave, and much more. Join us and make a difference in National Security!

The program is seeking an AI Engineer with a proven track record in software engineering and deep understanding of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) techniques to support the exciting new AI‑Assisted development mission. The AI engineer will work closely with mission stakeholders to capture requirements, aid in structured planning, and improve the certification process by introducing AI/ML tooling. Additionally, the engineer will use AI/ML to develop tools and techniques to include fine tuning Large Language Models (LLM) that assist in enhanced vulnerability identification and mitigation capabilities.

Position Responsibilities

• Lead AI development across a 20+ person engineering team, supporting AI‑enabled software modernization.
• Build AI/ML tools including LLM orchestration, RAG pipelines, automation workflows, and mission‑focused applications.
• Collaborate with customers through technical meetings, architecture reviews, and briefings.
• Design AI system architectures, integration strategies, secure APIs, and user‑facing tools.
• Integrate AI into engineering workflows for requirements analysis, code generation, testing, vulnerability scanning, and release processes.
• Configure AI agents, plugins, and automation frameworks to boost developer productivity.
• Develop documentation including user guides, API references, and operational playbooks.
• Support deployment and testing of AI‑enabled systems in secure environments.
• Optimize AI models for performance, scalability, and mission reliability.
• Ensure security compliance in partnership with cybersecurity and DevSecOps teams.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in System Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering Science, Engineering Management, or a related field and at least 8+ years of related experience. Additional experience may be substituted for a Degree.
• AI‑Enabled SDLC Architecture: Experience designing or implementing AI‑enabled software development lifecycle (SDLC) architectures and developer productivity platforms. Familiarity with internal developer portals, CI/CD automation, software delivery tooling, and secure development workflows. Understanding of how AI coding agents integrate across the full SDLC, including requirements analysis, system design, implementation, code review, automated testing, security scanning, release management, documentation generation, and operational support.
• AI Coding Agent Experience: Hands‑on experience using, configuring, or extending AI‑assisted development tools and coding agents such as OpenCode, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Aider, Continue, Sourcegraph Cody, or similar agentic development environments. Understanding of how coding agents perform repository inspection, task planning, code modification, command execution, diagnostic interpretation, and iterative remediation workflows.
• OpenCode Extensibility & Workflow Integration: Experience configuring or extending OpenCode or similar agentic development platforms through custom agents, tools, plugins, hooks, and workflow integrations. Familiarity with integrating external services and automation pipelines using MCP servers, plugin frameworks, and event‑driven customization mechanisms.
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) Expertise: Experience building, integrating, or securing Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and clients. Understanding of MCP concepts including tools, resources, prompts, transports, authentication, authorization, permissions management, context isolation, and safe execution boundaries. Familiarity with enabling AI systems to securely interact with local filesystems, APIs, databases, search services, and mission‑specific workflows.
• Secure AI Engineering: Understanding of secure AI development practices, AI governance, model safety, prompt injection mitigation, data protection, and secure integration of LLM‑powered systems within classified or restricted computing environments.
• Modern AI Infrastructure: Experience deploying and operating AI/ML services in containerized and orchestrated environments using Kubernetes, Docker, or cloud‑native MLOps platforms. Familiarity with scalable inference architectures, GPU‑enabled workloads, and automated model deployment pipelines.
• Must possess an active Secret clearance to be considered and would be eligible to obtain up to a TS/SCI clearance in the future.
• DoD 8570 approved security certification (i.e., Security +) (Will be required 90 days after hire).

Desired Qualifications

• Experience working in all phases of the engineering product development lifecycle.
• Experience with Agile Scrum methodology.
• Active Top Secret/SCI Clearance.

Pay and Benefits

Pay Range: $107,900.00 - $195,050.00. 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 responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement, or other law. Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. 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.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.